HE DIED the way he wanted to live. And so the saga of one Victorino Mangabat Jr.—prime suspect in the slaying of Jemima Kesha M. Andres—ended in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.
It was a saga bereft of rhyme or reason—to us totally unaware of his real motives on why he did what he did. The fact that his mother was tugging along with him in his “adventures” may be something worth studying both for psychologists and sociologists. When he was spotted and eventually shot and nabbed, Mr. Mangabat was also with his son, as well as another kidnap victim.
The question that begs to be asked is whether Mr. Mangabat is a serial criminal and if so, what made pushed him so. And what was his mother doing about it? So many other question can pop out but the best the authorities can do is to settle for what the mother has to say.
The sordid case may have ended with Mr. Mangabat’s death. But the questions remain. And authorities may have to find answers in their own way if they are to prevent a repeat of the same case.
A madness to their method
IT is now close to six months, but no resolution is in sight for the case of the slain The Ilocos Times columnist Stephen Pio “Steve” T. Barreiro.
Though shot in plain sight of various eyewitnesses, Ilocos Norte authorities have yet to file a case in court against the tagged suspect. Provincial officials have vowed to help in resolution of the case but as time zooms by, no assistance has proven worthwhile to solve this case. If there was any in the first place.
And as one of the most sensational slaying last year in the case of Ms. Andres has somehow been closed, the case of Mr. Barreiro—which was also as sensational—is strangely dragging on.
Should Ilocos Norte authorities also wait for Cagayan authorities to put a close to this case, too?