Batas Mauricio INDEED, at this point in the presidency of Rodrigo Roa Duterte, there are still many people and many groups, especially in his own homeland in Mindanao, that are out to prove that he remains powerless in the face of crime and lawlessness even if he is now the most powerful man in the country. The attack on Wednesday at the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan, a city which is only about 100 kilometers or a mere two-hour drive from Davao City via the Arakan Valley Road, is not simply to be dismissed as a case of a bold attempt to free jailed criminals. Clearly, it was meant to embarrass President Duterte and to show to the world that there is no one, even if he is the tough and feared leader like the former mayor of Davao City, that could stop criminal groups who are determined to commit crimes, even near the very backyard of the President. Viewed from this perspective, the Kidapawan City attack should cause great fear and grave concern among police and security officials. It is as if the attackers are saying other groups could come into the country and sow terror and commit crimes with impunity. This attack could be a signal and some sort of a tip that despite the security arrangements already in place, the Philippines remains vulnerable to similar lawless actions. Coming at the heels of the bombing of a night market in Davao City, the Kidapawan City daring attack was in fact an open invitation for more violence. There is therefore an urgent need for the Duterte government to show it is still in control by the swift arrest or other retaliatory action against those who carried out the jail attack, if it wants to prevent similar adventurism in the future. Its inability to hold the perpetrators liable for their misdeeds will only be construed as a further sign of weakness against crime and terrorism. •• My co-anchor Vic Somintac had a valid question during our program’s Jan. 3 episode, addressed to the Duterte government and its allies in the House of Representatives and in the Senate: why is the Oil Industry Deregulation Law or RA 8479 being left untouched? Somintac had a valid point: ever since the Oil Industry Deregulation Law was passed in 1998 during the time of President Fidel Ramos, the pricing of oil and other oil products in the Philippines, though it affects all of us Filipinos who are now around 110 million in all, had been left entirely in the hands of businessmen whose only concern is how to jack up their personal profits from gasoline. The net effect of all these? Gas prices are increased regularly, without actual regard to international and local market conditions, and without regard to the prevailing economic difficulties our countrymen have been suffering through the years. Deregulation, though it was intended to help Filipinos, actually was transformed into an instrument to fleece us. Now, why are our lawmakers and the Duterte government refusing to review or modify or ultimately remove the Oil Industry Deregulation Law? The silence of our top officials on this issue is deafening, to use a cliché. And Somintac is right: if oil deregulation is a law that had been duly passed, why not pass a law that would repeal it now? Why was there not one single lawmaker who sought the repeal, or the amendment or modification of that law? Whose interests are our lawmakers and top officials of the Duterte government serving--the Filipino people or the oil companies and other oil players? What benefits are our lawmakers and top officials getting from increased oil prices? Then, I am also constrained to ask: is the silence of our politicians on the evil effects of the Oil Indstry Deregulation Law due to the fact that campaign funds have been given them by oil companies, whether the big players or the small entrepreneurs? Is this the reason why many of them are silent even if the Filipino people are already groaning in hardship with each gas price increase? E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com