Just a few weeks ago, a group of leaders from cause oriented groups like Victor Olayvar. Chair of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), William Boybanting of the Hugpong sa mga Maguumang Bolanon (Humabol), Tomasa Curangcurang Santos of the Kahugpongan sa Maguumang Aliciahanon and Felipeneri Bejasa, Vice Chair of the Humabol, fearing for their safety, pressed for a dialogue with Gov.Erico Aumentado. They wanted to be sure that they will secured in face of the all out war against insurgency called by the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

It is not clear what they want from the governor. The presumed threat comes from nobody else but from the Armed Forces of the Philippines . It says that sympathizers from within the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines revealed that the ISAPF had listed them down for neutralization, which is a euphemism for liquidation. Since the governor cannot undertake preemptive moves he requested that the threats must be verified before he could act.

And so it happened in Bohol . We thought that it will happen elsewhere but not in our province. We are either too civilized for that or we are just peaceful. But it happened. Victor Olayvar of Bayan was killed. At the same day an official of a Local Government Unit of Eastern Visayas and a COMELEC official was also killed. Although the murders, we say that they were murders since they are obviously premeditated, were done on the same day. They are not related. There are killings and killings. When a person with a criminal record is killed, fingers are pointed to vigilantes. If a politician or political leader is killed, we blame hired killers commissioned by opponents. If the persons killed are militants or members of cause oriented groups, we accuse the armed forces of doing them in. If the victim is a member of the media, we accuse everybody.

The killing of Olayvar will be blamed on the army. Who would not? However, the army operatives would not be so coarse enough to eliminate a leading figure after a respected civic group headed by no less than Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak and Gov. Erico Aumentado asked the army brass to put a stop to political killings. It could also be reasoned that they went ahead since they may not be suspected because they were specifically asked to desist and it is assumed that they agreed not to do so. It then is any body's guess. It is frightening to know that militant organizations and cause-oriented groups have connections inside the ISAPF. This means to say that this branch of service is not secure. It can also be said that the leftists made up stories of far-flung connections. This would cause demoralization within the armed forces and suspicions among comrades in arms. It is also good intelligence and propaganda.

In the Philippines , criminal elements, politicians, militant groups as well as soldiers, leftists and media men are fair game. This means to say that if one enters any of these professions, he expects to be a target of an assassin's gun. It goes with the territory. Not even that. When people die because of mistaken identity or even if they are innocent bystanders, how much more for those who are in the forefront of the rallies and demonstrations. They may not die during the parade but sometime in their unguarded moments. When there is no more detriment like death penalty, crime will be committed with impunity. Extra judicial killings are forms of vigilantism. We condemn the killing of Victor Olayvar. He fought for a cause, even if we may not agree with his cause we respect him for that. However we cannot point a finger indiscriminately. For every finger pointed at the accused, three fingers of the same hand point back to the pointer.