Excise the rot

It was a sunny morning that working day early in the pandemic.

- WILFREDO G. REYES

After hearing news on the radio (I now forget what exactly it was all about) as I drove to the office, I pulled the car to the side along an empty White Plains Avenue before the People Power Monument in order to fire off my thoughts to editors and reporters to help start their day.

As I typed away on my mobile phone, I sensed another car draw up by my window. Glancing up to my left, I saw a patrol car right beside my door. The police sergeant (well, judging from the air of authority and experience he had) at the passenger seat was looking at me intently as he called out: "Magandang umaga po: okay ba kayo? (Good morning, sir: are you okay?)" Startled by the sudden break to the train of thought in my messaging, I stammered: "Oo" and waved absentmindedly. And the squad car drove off.

I realized later on how I must have looked to those cops: a car parked along that lonely road amid a raging pandemic, whose driver was slumped in his seat, seemingly staring blankly at the floor with head bowed. Is this guy in trouble? Is he contemplating suicide? Is he having a heart attack, in pulmonary distress or some other health emergency? I have since regretted not having stopped those cops to get their names, to thank them, and not having commended them to their regional superiors and to the Philippine National Police chief back then.

But it is their image that automatically comes to mind as I strain to believe the government's insistence that most cops conscientiously do their duties away from the limelight, in the face of news on crimes committed by rogue cops that bombard us almost daily.

That incident demonstrated to me the timeless silent power of even just one simple good deed, or the extra mile travelled in the fulfillment of duty, with neither fanfare nor thought of any reward.

So, allow me to start this discussion on this hopeful note.

IN SEARCH OF EXPLANATIONS...