IN People of the Philippines vs The Guy with a Haircut Only a Mother Can Love, Senator Franklin Drilon made the observation that the convict, appearing before media in a polo shirt worn tucked in, with a chunky watch on his wrist, violated prison rules which should rule out “good conduct” etc.
Funny, the senator did not include the convict’s hairdo, the sporting of which violates our right to a sense of beauty and order in our surroundings. Whoever the con’s barber may be, he deserves a longer prison term for helping his client perpetuate that nightmare hairdo. Likewise the young man who acted as his nanny, on whom the 73-year-old prisoner of the last century leaned for dear life.
Over the weekend, Senator Drilon warned that the man facing seven counts of rape and murder plus two other charges in a separate case could still plead before the Supreme Court to secure freedom after 26 years behind bars instead of 40 years. This means another round of lawyers, including the President’s, sharing their opinions while walking on eggshells; not even after the lawyer from San Beda, its most eminent alumnus, blew his top and vowed that the prisoner with the signature hairdo who’s been causing us nightmares then as now will not be allowed to walk free. Little more than a week ago, the President’s legal counsel and spokesman had spoken: Dura lex, sed lex, the President must follow the law. What if the Supreme Court interpreted RA 10592 differently from President Duterte?
Whatever happens next, as Anthony Taberna said on radio-TV, his “bubuyog” (bee) inside BJMP deserves credit for prying open Pandora’s box: “On Aug. 20, the bee reported, an order to release the convicted rapist-murderer was signed and withdrawn on the same day.” Without the buzz, there would’ve been no sting!
The uproar now raised to universal opprobrium, the public has to be told what’s in store for Nightmare Hairdo’s bodyguards, the gang who took part in the crime and might now walk free with their principal. Are their names safely hidden in the list of 11,000 due for freedom? In prison, did they commit crimes for him the way they did in 1993 in Los Baños? A nightmare!
