One feels both grief and outrage over the death of PO2 Rey Anthony Nazareno, a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) who got killed during the April 11 encounter between government troops and Abu Sayyaf bandits in Inabanga, Bohol province.
If anything, at least Nazareno’s family can realistically expect some compensation from the national government for his heroic sacrifice that helped stave off the Abu Sayyaf menace, at least until more government troops arrived to hunt down and eliminate the other bandits.
While dying in the battlefield and conflict zone is a very real possibility that is accepted by police officers, soldiers and their families, both the military and police also require their troops and personnel to stay alive in the line of duty.
Thus we can imagine how Nazareno’s family and friends may feel upon learning that a ranking police official, Supt. Maria Christina Nobleza, is seemingly in cahoots with the Abu Sayyaf bandits based on the available evidence lodged against her.
It’s painful enough for families of police officers and soldiers to lose their loved ones even if they know that what they’re doing is to protect the country. That police officials like Nobleza can choose not only to turn their backs but also betray the men and women who died to protect the country by trying to help the Abu Sayyaf bandits is both painful and galling.
While people can have their own affairs and let their conscience and their God be the judge, it’s a different story when these encroach on one’s job especially in government, and that’s what Nobleza’s case is all about.
By allegedly having an affair with Reinerio Dongon, an Abu Sayyaf bandit with a string of crimes that included the bombing of a Cagayan de Oro City hotel, Nobleza essentially moved in with the Abu Sayyaf all the while holding a sensitive position in the country’s police force.
But why are we not surprised by the latest development stating that Nobleza wasn’t alone in conspiring to rescue the Abu Sayyaf bandits out of the hole they dug for themselves when they foolishly thought of sowing terror and violence in Inabanga town, Bohol province?
It had been reported that Nobleza is also after the reward money offered by a sultan whose son is allegedly one of the three remaining bandits cornered by government troops.
While the soldiers and police personnel continue to hunt down and bring these bandits to justice, their superiors should also investigate their ranks to see if there are any more of these traitors and conspirators aiding the Abu Sayyaf bandits.
Unless they are caught and turned in, they will continue to directly and indirectly cause the unnecessary deaths of police officers like PO2 Rey Anthony Nazareno.