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If
there is any lesson worth learning from the Vivian Dumaluan
rape-murder case, it is the assurance that even the best laid
plans can go awry. It is also showing that the passing of
time will bury the ghosts of the crime.
By
normal reckoning, four years is a long time. So much can happen
within that period. The evidences that would be crucial to
the case should have been virtually unrecognizable if not
completely gone by this time.
And
yet, here it is. More than ever, it has taken on a new course
and with renewed vigor. More than ever, the line is drawn
and the stakes are much higher than what they once were.
To
the human eye, and to the legal minds, the progress of this
case is worth monitoring not so much because the plot thickens
at every juncture but also because of the personalities involved.
Ex-Mayor
Doloreich Dumaluan is definitely the biggest name to be charged
with the case. A self-confessed participant to the crime,
Alex Dasco, has narrated details of Dumaluan's involvement
enough for the victim's parents to include him in the new
charges filed against him.
Dumaluan
of course has denied the allegations. His denial of course
has to go through a fine-tooth comb. Simply saying that he
is a healer but not a killer may earn headline treatment but
it does not necessarily mean he is off the hook.
The
point however is that just when people think there is no more
reason to believe in the justice system, no reason to hope
for the poor in this world, surprises crop up out of nowhere.
This
is not to say the worst is over. On the contrary, this is
only the beginning. It is still a long way to go precisely
because the stakes are so high.
And
yet, people can find consolation in the thought that there
is a power higher than any force on earth that can frustrate
even the best scripts.
Just
because a case has not been moving does not mean it won't
move at all. And just because a person has not been charged
for a crime does not mean he won't be made accountable for
it.
The
bottom line however is that even if justice in this country
or in this world fails those it has sworn to serve, there
is still enough reason to hope and believe.
For
there is no doubt about the presence of a God who will make
to account all bring law-breakers and all those who conspire
with them to frustrate justice.
People
may able to run, but they cannot hide from the wrath of Him
from whom nothing is hidden. That is what they call divine
justice.
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