A Sympathy Act

Talk about making a big deal out of things.

The National Bureau of Investigation have finally released the result of the investigation done on the now infamous Trina Etong Case. And as it would have obviously turned out to be, the case was ruled a suicide and not homicide or any extreme theory rumored.

And honestly, I’m glad that it is over because this case brought mayhem to the country, most especially the Quezon City Police District (QCPD). The incident made headlines on both tv and paper.

It was April 15 of this year when news broke out that veteran news anchor Ted Failon Etong brought his wife all covered in blood to a hospital. Different stories were told, one of those was that the Failon couple were having an argument inside their car when Ted drew his gun which was inside their car and shot his wife. The story however was ruled out incorrect.

In my opinion, the case was well overhyped. Investigation was of course procedure, but the publicity it received was unnecessary. And was probably because of Ted Failon’s popularity as a news anchor and a former politican. Dozens of this kind of incidents occur everyday, mostly to ordinary people. Hundreds dated from years back and still remain unsolved today. Most usually end up in dusty filing cabinets.

But it wasn’t the overhyping that ticked me off. It was the fact that policemen, who were actually not being linient for a change, were apprehended as a sympathy act.

We all saw on tv the scenes that followed the next night, when Trina’s relatives were arrested by QCPD policemen for obstruction of justice, which had grounds. Actually, it was only Trina’s sister that they wanted, but because she got hysterical her relatives got in the way of the arresting team and were eventually taken into custody. There was really no violation committed by the policemen, or as the CHR would call it “human rights violation”. More than a third of the arresting team were low-ranking deputies who just took orders from their superiors, but ironically they were the ones at the receiving end of a heavier punishment than the commanders.

Clearly the punishment was due to the fact that the people found the arrest “heartbreaking” and “inhuman”, but we have to remember that justice shows no compassion and sees no friend or foe. If the families of murderers and kidnappers would cry and kneel down in front of the judge during trial will that wipe the crime he or she did? Surely not for ordinary people, but for the popular and influential ones…?

Purely, an act of sympathy.