Killings, Stealings, Violence

As much as possible, ayoko sanang magbigay nang mga negative stories tungkol sa Licab. Kasi ang goal nga sana ng blog ay para mai-promote o maipakilala ang Licab sa mga hindi nakakaalam tungkol dito.

Ngunit naisip kong ang blog na ito ay siyang magsisilbi ring tambayan ng mga taga-Licab-magsisilbing kuhanan nila ng mga balita at current events na nangyayari sa aming bayan.

Anyway, kung hindi ako nagkakamali, 2008 nang magsimula ang mga series of violence tungkol sa pagpatay o tangkang pagpatay sa ilang mga Barangay Captains.

Sabi sa kwento, papunta yata ng seminar (sa Baguio o Pangasinan) ang ilang barangay officials ng Sta. Maria nang barilin ang barangay captain ng Sta. Maria sa isang stop over nila. Akalain mong kilala ko pa si Ferdie, yung driver nung inaarkila nilang sasakyan.

Sumunod namang nabalita yung pagkamatay ni Bongbong Villaroman sa may daan ng Licab-Victoria, Tarlac.

Nakakalungkot. Kung minsan, hindi mo man personal na kakilala ang mga taong napapatay, hindi maiiwasang malulungkot ka rin dahil nga naman sa dinami-dami ba naman ng balitang maririnig mo tungkol sa Licab, eh, puro karahasan pa ang maririnig mo. Kung iisipin mo pa, napakaliit na bayan, napakagulo.

Narito ang official news na galing sa Nueva Ecija Journal:

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SP puts up reward for arrest of killer of Licab barangay chief

The Nueva Ecija Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) passed a resolution last July 24 for the setting up of a P100,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest of the killer of a barangay chair in Licab.

SP Member Rommel Padilla, chair of the SP peace and order committee, said that the unanimously approved resolution also expressed sympathy to the family of the victim, David Villaroman, the 39 year old barangay chair of San Juan, Licab who was ambushed and killed in Victoria, Tarlac last July 19.

Vice Gov. Edward Thomas Joson, Padilla's BALANE party mate, also approved the resolution.

The Tarlac police reported that Villaroman was driving a red multi-cab when fired at by a gunman at the approach of a bridge in Barangay Mangolago, Victoria. The gunman alighted from an L-300 van and fired at the victim at close range as he passed by.

Meanwhile, Gov. Aurelio M. Umali called on the police to resolve two killings.###
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Sa local scene, sana nga ay ginagawan naman ng aksiyon ng mga local officials ng Licab ang mga nangyayaring ganito. Narito naman ang balita tungkol sa aksiyon na ginagawa ni Mayor Willy Domingo at nang mga lokal na opisyal ng bayan:

Licab residents rally against violence

In reaction to the killing of two barangay chairs in a span of five months, some 10,000 Licab residents joined an indignation rally last July 25 to denounce the spate of violence in their town.

The rallyists paraded around the poblacion and then gathered at the municipal hall to pray for peace and call for a stop to violence.

Mayor Willy Domingo led the ecumenical prayer rally at Liwasang Dalmacio, with the police, the academe, the business and farming sectors, the elderly and seven local religious groups participating.

The mayor criticized the slow progress of the investigations to resolve the twin killings.

The latest victim was Barangay San Juan Chair David Villaroman, nephew of former Mayor Tomas Villaroman, who was shot and killed while driving a multi-cab in Victoria, Tarlac last July 19.

The other victim, Barangay Chair Freddie Jacinto, was ambushed and killed in Talavera.

“There appears to be a killer on the loose and on the supposed hit list are our barangay captains,” the mayor said, adding that the violent incidents tended to destroy the economic gains of his administration.

He said he wanted to show that Licab was the first in Nueva Ecija to declare war against criminality and violence.

Domingo said he himself had received several death threats through text messages, and could not understand why despite these, he was deprived of his police escorts. ###
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Ang mga series of killings na ito ay naganap noong 2008. Makalipas nito, sumikat naman ang sinasabing maraming Hold-up incidents sa may parteng papuntang Sta. Maria at Licab-Victoria Road.

May mga nagsasabing nahuli na at napatay ang mga hold-uppers kamakailan. Sana nga. Subalit magsilbi sana itong babala at pagkakataon para sa mga Sangguniang Bayan, Local Officials, at Pulisya. Sana ay gumawa nang kaukulang aksiyon upang mabawasan, kung hindi man tuluyan ng masugpo ang mga ganitong klaseng karahasan.

After all, kung magiging matahimik at maayos ang ating bayan, sino pa ang makikinabang kung hindi rin tayong mga mamamayan?