City in crisis

By Alexis Marian Africa

It was a sunny morning—too sunny for January—when I heard the news. A young dentist was found dead in her clinic a few blocks from where I live. The same incident was news far away my hometown, coming out on the television sets of concerned parents whose sons and daughters work in our “blossoming little metropolis.”

Some might say that the media were making a big deal out of a little incident, making it a wee bit more theatrical than what it truly was. But I believe there was no exaggeration.

When I left home to pursue a degree, I brought with me the pride of being a native of Lipa City. Because of that, I openly expressed disgust over the crime rates in the bigger cities as I experienced various forms of misdemeanor carried out in broad daylight in front of crowds. Still I’m thankful that all I lost were cell phones and wallets, and that they were taken away from me in relatively harmless fashion.

I would come home from time to time and relish the beauty of my hometown. New parks were being built together with new roads. Even humdrum sites were being beautified by fountains—lots of them. But what I liked best of all was our relatively low crime rate which allowed me the joy of going to convenience stores in ungodly hours just to get a fix of junk food with my brother or even alone.

But in the latter part of my college life, I noticed some little difference whenever I would come home. When I went out at night, I sometime felt a need to be more cautious about where I went on foot. Those were the days when “tambay” [bystanders] were starting to spread terror in the city center. They were different from the guys you saw on street corners when you were little. Back then, those people were usually your brother’s “barkada” [group of buddies], relatives, or even you yourself hanging out with a couple of your friends and talking about the latest horror story that your nanny, classmate or parents told you.

Times have changed. More and more faces that you see now look unfamiliar. Every time I come home for the weekend or even for the summer, I’ve noticed that more precautions are being taken by parents. I found it strange to hear my parents reprimand me for staying out late with my former schoolmates, when back in grade school it was OK to stay out much later.

But then our city is not perfect, and I tried to make room in my heart for its limitations. We are not living in Utopia and so I cannot expect to find the perfect place. Despite its shortcomings, I still kept faith with my hometown.

More people were moving in and change was inevitable. So I learned to accept it and did not lose hope. I stuck to the view that Metro Manila would only do me good in terms of education, and that after finishing my studies, I would head straight back home and try to contribute something to my beloved city while at the same time enjoying the serenity it brought me.

But after coming home for good, rumors started spreading about thieves raiding 24-hour outlets and drugs making an unhealthy comeback. Still, that did not drive me away. For me, Lipa remained a wholesome city, free of nightclubs, serious crimes and repulsive pollution.

But all that changed gradually. Then one day, I had a rude awakening and opened my eyes to a nightmare. Crimes were breaking out everywhere. Private subdivisions were not being spared by thieves. Computer shops were being held up almost every night (one shop lost everything to thieves even before it could get a business permit), and other establishments were closing. Even plazas turned into places of terror as rival gangs shot at each other with arrows and several students, who were just going to school nearby, were caught in the crossfire and injured. Some kids were being bullied even near their homes. A young man was beaten up badly after he rushed to the help of his little brother, who was being teased cruelly by some grown-ups. Those same tormentors were killed in a bar during a brawl. And the list went on and on…

With the BPO industry booming and as more establishments need more workers to do the night shift, the possibility of terror has multiplied. The mere thought of that possibility racing through your head as you walk in the middle of the night brings panic, and it happens all the time. No wonder people are getting more stressed even as they go about their routines.

In one tragic incident, an overseas worker who had returned home to enjoy the money he earned abroad was found shot to death inside his car in the parking lot during a cock derby even as the cockpit was crawling with policemen.

That is one thing I don’t get. Most of these crimes were committed in front of witnesses, yet no one even bothered to call the authorities. But then I myself do not know the police department’s number even though I had volunteered there as a paralegal a few years back. I don’t even know if the hotlines are still working.

They say there are a number of reasons for this failure to report a crime or come forward to testify. Firstly, when they are in a state of shock, people tend to forget to evaluate the situation rationally and do the right thing. Second, when a crime is committed in front of many witnesses, people assume that somebody would alert the authorities and so they don’t consider it their responsibility to do it. Third (and this is my favorite), witnesses are afraid to come forward because the crime might be pinned on them.

But whatever the reason, such apathy leaves the criminals free to roam and strike again.

So what am I still doing here? I’m just hoping that someday, somehow, order will be restored in our city. I’m wishing that someday someone will lead us in saving our city. I am praying that someday, the citizens will rise up as one to deliver our city from destruction. I want to feel proud again to call this city home.

Alexis Marian Africa, 21, is a freelance writer from Lipa City, Batangas.