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Batas Mauricio

IT would seem that this early, those who heed the call of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte for a fierce fight against illegal drugs and drug syndicates during his term are being told that it would be dangerous to join Duterte in that fight.

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This is what Allan Fajardo, a businessman, found out after his house in Tanauan City, where he was handpicked by its re-elected chief executive, Mayor Tony Halili, to be the head of the Mayor’s Anti Crime Group, was raided in the early morning of May 5, 2016, by bonnet-hooded armed men who introduced themselves as policemen.

According to reports, Fajardo is in the forefront of the “shame campaign” of Halili against drug lords or drug dealers in Batangas, and he apparently has incurred the ire of powerful personalities.

A voice clip of Fajardo was aired twice in our program last Tuesday. We thought that it would be better if we allowed the voice clip to be heard by our listeners.

In sum, here was what Fajardo said: his house was raided by about 100 policemen. The raiders were wearing bonnets that hid their faces, something that was unusual. He was dumbfounded by the raid because he had no criminal record. Then, he was never engaged in crime, and is in fact part of the crime-busting team of Mayor Halili.

The raid was carried out with apparent excessive force. The door of his house was wrecked by the raiders, and his firearms, though fully licensed, were all confiscated. Up to now, however, Fajardo has not received any summons or any subpoena yet, which may indicate that he had not been charged, after all.

We were told that Fajardo’s money amounting to P2.2 million, his three expensive cellphones, and two of his signature wrist watches, were taken by the raiders who ransacked his room, and have not been returned to him.

Fajardo also denounced the effect of the raid on his household; he said his children and the other persons who were there at the time of the raid were shocked and gravely traumatized by the incident. More especially so, we were told, that during the raid, there was no barangay official that witnessed the occurences.

Perhaps, Fajardo should fly to Davao City and bring his case to Duterte, especially so that information reaching him indicate that very influential persons were behind the raid in his house. Duterte, after all, was elected on his promise that he would wage a fierce war against illegal drugs and drug lords during his term. This could be Duterte’s test case on what he will do against drugs!

As Duterte and his team go through motion of appointing officials for the new government which will assume power noon of June 30, 2016, I am asking, over and over again, that appointments be made on the basis of God’s criteria for leaders, as enunciated in many verses of the Christian Bible.

This criteria from God is urgently important to be remembered by Duterte and his team, in view of the fact that many individuals are now literally falling on top of one another just to have themselves installed in the incoming Duterte administration, with nothing but their own interests in their hearts. There is only way to be assured of who should be properly appointed.

That “only way” is the way of God–which means to say, Duterte must appoint only those who are godly and righteous, capable, and who hate dishonest money, for these are the people who will surely do their best for the country and the nation, on account of their fear and love of God. All other appointees who do not have the fear and love of God will only cheat, lie, and steal.

The first criteria should be that, the appointee must have the Spirit of God in him or her. This means that the appointee must be a firm believer in God, endeavoring to know His will through His Word and commands in the Bible, and acts in full consciousness of God’s will and leading.

This presupposes that the appointee knows what should be done in the particular office that he or she will be appointed to, to glorify God and to serve Filipinos, without fear or favor, whether rich or poor, whether belonging to the same political party or not. In all his or her actions, the appointee will display discernment and wisdom from God.

The second criteria is that, the appointee must be capable of discharging his duties and responsibilities. Capability may not be necessarily measured in terms of educational attainment or college degrees, but it sure will help a lot if the appointee has undergone a lot of training, and achieved some degree of expertise on his chosen field.

Likewise, the appointee must hate dishonest money, and be God-fearing. I believe these two qualifications go hand in hand with one another, for an appointee who fears God and lives by His Word and His commands will not be happy with stolen money, nor with abusive conduct and behavior towards the public he or she serves.

Finally, the appointee must really accept being the servant of his or her constituents, or the public as a whole, so that he or she would really strive to serve them, not to be served by them. This would also mean living a lifestyle of a poor servant, not of a lavish king or a fabulous queen.

I am aware that many of the people applying for positions now do not meet these standards or criteria. It is best not to appoint them, if I were Duterte. They would only be an embarrassment to him and his government, if he truly wants to govern justly and well, so as the change he promised while he was campaigning would really be enjoyed by those who put their trust on him.

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com

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