Views to a failed kill

“HE did not act alone. He was a mere instrument of a conspiracy to rid Pampanga of its best-ever leader.”
So said a seemingly respectable man who have had, perhaps, much too much serving of Oliver Stone movies. Yeah, those invariably plotted on conspiracy theories, like the assassination of JFK.
“He was a jueteng kubrador deprived of his income by Among Ed’s incessant campaign against illegal gambling. He lost his mind trying – and failing – to get another job to feed his family. To him, killing the governor will not only be a vindication but a salvation.”
So quipped another man whose Benz I mistook for a bridal car as it was bedecked with white ribbons.
“Wala iyan. Pautot lang ng mga image-makers ni Panlilio yan. Laos na yung bullet-proof jacket para i-drama ang mga tangka kuno sa buhay niya. Kaya, hayan, balisong naman ang ginamit.”
No, that was not me. That was an unrepentant and unrelenting Panlilio critic holding court in some coffeeshop at SM Clark.
Speculations and suspicions abound in the wake of the reported “failed assassination” of Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio at the provincial capitol last Monday after he launched his White Movement for good governance.
Blame that on the initial sloppy media reporting of the incident and the even sloppier police investigation.
From what I read and watched, the reportage was very detailed in drama but sorely devoid of the most essential fact – the identity of the would-be assassin kuno.
How the reporters knew that he was “insane” – guys, make that mentally-challenged is the political correctness – when they did not even know his name was one journalistic lapse making them all unworthy of their cameras, laptops and tape recorders.
Then, there was the City of San Fernando police reportedly freeing the would-be assassin after a cursory investigation.
Cow dung! Bull ordure! That was the governor nearly meeting with his God! And the suspect just walked away like nothing happened? Col. Audie Atienza, top gun of the city police, is a very good friend but I think there was some element of the bumbling Keystone Cops of the silent movies in his handling of the incident.
And now we read that the city police are again looking for the man. For further – and hopefully more thorough – interrogation, it is said.
The propagandist in me had a different track and tack on this.
Think of the mileage the Panlilio camp will get if they’ll do here a John Paul II. What do I mean?
Dummy, how soon can you forget one of the most touching moments, indeed a most redemptive act, in JP II’s papacy? The supreme pontiff entering a Rome prison cell meeting, forgiving, consoling and blessing his would-be assassin, the Turk Mehmet Ali Agca. That was indeed one moment frozen not only in time but in sainthood.
Now, picture the priest-and-governor in a forgiving embrace with his own Kapampangan, if slightly mentally-challenged, Mehmet. That will be one moment to last till 2013.
Squeeze the juice out of the “failed assassination” kuwento for all its political worth. Andiyan na rin lang yan. (Zona Libre, PUNTO! October 3, 2007)