Sammy Yatim and Jeffrey Reodica are now statistics.
They are among those killed at the hands of Toronto’s finest.
“To Serve and Protect”, as a motto it seems is a just slogan emblazoned in bold to decorate police cars that patrol our streets.
Both boys, police claim, were shot in self defence. Sammy was shot nine times while inside an empty TTC street car. This happened as other police officers were watching and — as if to put an icing on a cake, one of them tasered the already fallen teen.
Jeffrey? I am not sure how many times he was shot. Cell phone videos were not readily available to record the incident at that time. Only the police officer, Detective Dan Bellanger, and Jeffery could have known what really happened. The latter as we now know had never spoken until he later expired at the hospital.
Jeffery was felled by fatal bullets without anyone to dispute that he had a knife in his hand as claimed by the police officer who shot him in May 2004. The police officer said then that Jeffery struggled while holding a knife and had a rock in hand and so he was shot. The officer was scared for his life so he took Jeffery’s — that was the defence then and may be the same defence now in the case of Sammy.
Speaking in front of the cameras and reporters after Sammy’s shooter Police Officer James Forcillo’s court hearing where he was granted bail of $510,000, Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack said that the incident was a life changing moment for Forcillo. Well, he’s lucky he still has life while Sammy is gone forever.
The Filipino community rallied behind the Reodicas’s grief and anguish they were burdened with at that time. With Mel Catre and many leaders a large number of people joined a community forum held at the Scarborough Civic Centre at the Town Centre. I was moderator of that angry congregation which almost filled the rafters. Not only many of them opened their mouths but their wallets towards ‘Justice for Jeffery’ as well.
It was the same ‘Justice for Jeffery’ that later morphed into what is now named ‘Community Alliance for Social Justice’ which some wag say had first lost the ‘alliance’ as original members disappeared disgruntled into oblivion that led eventually to losing ‘community’, then ‘justice’ went away, too. What seems to be left for now is just the word ‘social’. But that’s another story.
Many springs and summers have passed that produced recommendations after recommendations from various groups resulting from various fora and meetings but here we go again in the case of Sammy. How many more lives? Only springs and summers could tell.
As I am writing this piece, the Ontario government has just announced to expand police use of stun guns or taser. Perhaps this Liberal government has realised that police has to use laser first rather than after shooting as in the case of Sammy Yatim. The question now is when, how and to whom should stun guns be used. This has to be well regulated to prevent its misuse or abuse at the expense of young lives.
Speaking of the police reminds me of Janet Napoles, the now in hiding alleged mastermind of ten billion peso scam involving Philippine legislators’ pork barrel funds. As it is, as she is being hunted siya ay na pulis.
Now, I am speechless. I really do not know what to say with the knowledge that the woman is na pulis is not the only one involved in this most despicable and heinous type of perfidy. This is case is not the first and even if Napoles is prosecuted, she will not be the last. In the Philippines it is the modus vivendi or the way of life: okay lang magnakaw huwag lang pahuli. What a pig-like way to live.
Now I’m nauseated I don’t feel like eating pork ever again. As our Muslim brethren would say, it is haram or sinful — in Mindanao where I came from, it’s tagged ‘nakakasuka’ by Maranaos and Maguindanaons.
On a more positive note, I am personally glad that the Philippine Independence Day Council, PIDC, has decided this year to hold its Mabuhay Festival outdoors, at the Harbourfront. Rightly so because in my view, festivals during the summer time must be held in the open doors and not in enclosed places like the Tonto Convention Centre.
Filipino festivals such as the FCT Fiesta at Nathan Philip Square, Kalayaan at Mississauga city hall grounds, Filipino Making Waves at Toronto’s Dundas Square, and now PIDC’s Mabuhay, are great gatherings as they are held close to the people , people of the streets , not cooped in a closed cage where people have to pay entrance fees which most of the time go the wrong pockets not to the one they claim the money would go.
