Another One Bites The Dust
July 16th, 2009 by BongV| Activist doctor shot dead in Davao – Davao Today
DAVAO CITY – – -A doctor of the regional health office who headed the epidemiological research and surveillance department, the unit tasked to monitor and address the A (H1N1) flu cases, was shot dead in his car while going home last night. Dr. Rogelio “Bong” Peñera, 46, was driving home to Countryville subdivision in Barangay Cabantian with his 15 year old daughter when shot. Police told Bombo Radyo Davao that the victim sustained several gunshot wounds on his head. His daughter was also reported to have been hit and was treated at the Davao Medical Center. The killers were on board two DT motorcycles. They fired their guns at the doctor inside his blue Honda Civic car. Empty shells of .45 caliber pistols were recovered at the crime scene. Assistant Regional Director Dr. Salvador Estrera told RMN-DXDC Davao radio that DOH was about to send Peñera, an expert in infectious diseases, to the University of the Philippines for further studies but the plan was stalled because of the A (H1N1) pandemic. Estreras said Peñera was an expert in dengue and malaria, diseases which commonly afflict poor communities. But Davao-based Bayan Muna national vice president Joel Virador said Peñera was also active in political campaigns that sought government’s attention to the sordid state of the country’s health care delivery. Peñera was active in groups like the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), the Rx for Peace and Health People United for the Removal of Gloria (Purga), a group of medical practitioners and health workers calling for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He actively opposed the privatization of public hospitals and fought for the delivery of basic health services, including free medicines, to poor communities in the region. (Cheryll Fiel/davaotoday.com) |
High school was over. Gone were the “bagets” days. Having gotten the red light from my parents that Diliman or Los Baños was not an option lest I wind up with a Mao hat, mao’s red book, Joma’s PSR and an AK-47. I was resigned to more years of quiet desperation within the four walls of the sectarian university, listening to the mantra “Man for Others” living the gimikero life of the petit bourgeoisie amidst an ocean of proletarian discontent that was raging in the streets.
A tall lanky senior in the Pre-med program was assigned to orient a class of impish freshmen that included moi. Later on we were exchanging notes in the laboratory as we dissected cats and frogs in anatomy class. Our paths crossed many times as I underwent the pre-med program – inter-division cheering competition, playing the guitar during saturday and Sunday mass, refining political strategy for the student council elections, and the first wave of general transport strikes that was piloted in Davao and later on replicated nationwide.
As is the norm after college, life goes on and the years go by so quickly. And it has gone a lot quicker and deadlier for Dr. Bong Peñera, like many others who articulated and acted on their advocacy for a more egalitarian society. I am actually surprised that he has come this far in pursuing his advocacy. All the while, I though it was a fluke – one of those things one does in college para “in” with the babes (not that it is done on purpose, consider it as one of the perks and risks).
I just couldn’t picture the good doctor as a “militant” because he was soft-spoken, in-control of his emotions, rational, and levelheaded. Or perhaps, the definition has been changed. Or perhaps, the years of treating and healing the tired, the weary, the sick, and the dispossessed had taken its toll and strengthened his resolve to be “a man for others”.
To Dr. Rogelio “Bong” Peñera and all those who have made the supreme sacrifice for freedom, prosperity, community, and humanity – you all have done this nation a great service, Thank you, I will always remember you, my friend.
July 16, 2009 at 9:27 am
What is happening to our country? Are we going back to the middle ages and become an uncivilized society?
July 16, 2009 at 1:08 pm
The country is not really going back… it just never moved forward. We’re still in the Middle Ages.
July 16, 2009 at 10:36 am
Gross Negligence of Public Administration…
Another direct assault to human rights and denial of justice. Abuses and killings like this issue will additionally narrow the country’s political discourse. Hardly any efficient investigations were conducted into allegations of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, and guilty verdict of those responsible was rare.
Many cases were not conveyed to court due to a lack of evidence and proof time after time because witnesses feared reprisals. Out of the hundreds of cases that had been reported in earlier years, at most two were resolved and no high-ranking officials were prosecuted nor taken to court.
July 16, 2009 at 10:48 am
Principle of Command Responsibility
Of the thousands of political killings since 2001, not a single military official has been condemned or convicted. The principle of command responsibility has yet to be applied in a single case. It can never be applied because no one in power is willing to take the responsibility.
poor philippines…. killing righteous activists and rewarding the criminals.
July 16, 2009 at 11:49 am
Since this loss was personal to you, I think it would be disrespectful of me to offer a political comment. No one wins when these things are happening. I am sorry for your loss, and that of your friend’s family and the community that relied on him.
July 16, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Sorry for your friend, BongV.
July 16, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I’m sad. Another one less human being in the service of humanity. But I’m afraid there will be more of this if we don’t have the capacity to unite against this evil political environment.
July 16, 2009 at 7:06 pm
to Bert: One has to mourn the loss.
And later, to think this thought —- When a community condones salvaging of petty criminals for its efficiency of bringing faster the common good, some other things happen.
July 16, 2009 at 8:16 pm
UP:
These things have been happening for quite some time – when AFP rogue elements aren’t contained – the community responds – tit-for-tat.
July 16, 2009 at 8:44 pm
It is easier for a CAFGU or a “mere private” to say “..bakit nga ba hindi?” when a commander insinuates a need for a special assignment when
with a community in approval of terminations and salvagings “…in the name of the common good”.
July 16, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Taking shortcuts in the name of the common good
cut short the lives of good people.
Unintended consequences.
July 16, 2009 at 10:25 pm
UP:
I think, if one has to go by the first cause argument – rogue elements and the AFP and the GRP draw first blood when they silence political dissent violently.
Why can’t the GRP sit down on the table, discuss, prioritize, and resolve the legitimate concerns. Ganyan na lang ba palagi – barilan? Same goes for the rebos – ganun na lang ba parati – barilan?
Aren’t we Pinoys supposed to be civilized? – or maybe, we are uncivilized brutes but we pretend to be otherwise and take offense when that is pointed out. There is a crime of commission and a crime of ommission.
Ang hirap kasi nito is when guns are drawn – what follows is a spiral of violence that escalates and no one remembers how it first started.
The Philippines is a country gone to the dogs.
July 16, 2009 at 8:28 pm
In these cases its usually a military team foreign to Davao. Like Rebelyn Pitao, son of Leoncio Pitao aka Ka Parago. Otherwise, the mayor would react violently or speak out. Still if the perps get caught rev justice will get them soon enuff. Or is the case diff?
July 17, 2009 at 4:38 am
Free:
Sounds like the AFP dudes hit Rebelyn
, while the NPA dudes hit Evelyn.
July 16, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Misanthropic murder mired in the militancy morass.
July 16, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Setting aside the militancy-issue for a moment….
Having left Pinas, then returning, my brothers and his neighbors spoke positively of this “salvaging” phenomenon — that the country had gotten peaceful since metro-Manila police had been more “vigilant” and active in hunting down the bad guys.
I went back to the States, returned 3 years later, and was met with the story of a kababata who had been salvaged. Now putting a face to the salvage-victim (and yes, he was a toughie kanto-boy, except he was OUR kanto-boy!!!) there was less applause for short-cut pursuit of “…the greater good”.
July 17, 2009 at 12:43 am
have known friends and relatives on both sides of the fence – the ones i can talk about – one scout ranger and one “lost command” – the one with the “lost command” lost his command after an ambush left him the only person alive, a big guy who carries the BAR, he had to play possum, and to survive he sorta had to slice some beef off his fallen colleagues – that sent his pysche into temporary vacation – and charlie’s angels rescued him from the pink ward.
on the other side of the fence was a promising young man, a cousin, Minoy, from Barrio La Fortuna, Mlang, Cotabato. he was not a combatant, a gentle soul. the CAFGU along with AFP elements asked him to be their guide because they were in pursuit. Minoy was found the following day, floating in the river, swollen stomach. guess what, Minoy’s village which just wanted to be left alone in peace – flipped overnight. so much for the “winning the hearts and minds”.
then there’s another schoolmate, ab philosophy, community organizer, not a combatant – his former comrades struck a bolo deep into the jugular vein between the neck and the shoulders. they buried him in a shallow grave – supposedly a deep penetration agent, a charge which was later reversed.
here’s another one, another schoolmate, a CEGP member, editor of the schoolpaper, she was asked to plead that her hubby surrender – well she followed the gov’t request and went out to find her hubby – she wind up as collateral damage, an RPG grenade blew her up – along with the baby in her tummy
here’s another one a schoolmate, agriculture graduate – joined the underground then surrendered later on – along with her husband. i was scanning the news last year – she and her hubby were gunned down in front of their house.
another one in my college days, another schoolmate, he lead the out-of-school youth group, abducted after we had a meeting, he was abducted, and was floating in a river in Toril a few days later, his body badly burned, and with multiple gunshot wounds.
also had two former commandants – Captains Consolacion and Captain Dacucuy, PA, knew them all during CAT – both felled down by bullets from the other side – in front of the gate of my high school.
another one, childhood friend, abducted, raped, and murdered – cigarette burns all over her breasts, cigarette busts in her genitals..
We are in a war where everything becomes fair game. We have a saying in Davao – all the brave people are dead – its the ones who are cunning who get to live another day.
July 16, 2009 at 11:01 pm
If you are politically active. There are forces that will not be
in agreement with you. To shut you up, they have to murder you. This
has been the case of our country ever since.
It is better to use the TWITTER or the INTERNET BLOG. They cannot
shut you up. They have to murder high profile people in order to
shut you up.
No technology yet has been developed to stop Bloggers and Twitters
from giving their opinions.
July 17, 2009 at 12:14 pm
bongv, i meant to say sorry for your loss… take care
July 17, 2009 at 2:36 pm
It is a shame that the notions of good and bad, right and wrong, are so warped that justification of murder is easy to so many.
I’m sorry for the loss of your schoolmate, a principled man who did not deserve his fate. I hope his daughter gets to see a different Philippines during her lifetime, to know her father’s death was for a reason.
Joe
July 18, 2009 at 6:43 am
This is a tragic loss for the people of Davao whom he has served. He cared for the ordinary Filipino and stood up for his beliefs. I hope that justice will prevail and the criminals arrested. I also hope the daughter will find strength to continue on without her dad. So sorry for your loss Bong. May Dr. Rogelio Penera rest in peace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVbkz_3lO3c&feature=related