All are equal

Today we are reminded that each and every one of us must focus our lives and our whole attention on the Lord, and we must abandon all of our past sins, wickedness and all the things that had kept us away from the path of the Lord. As Christians, each and every one of us is reminded to truly embody our faith and to be truly faithful to God in all things, not just in formality only.

In our Gospel passage today, we hear of the moment when the Lord called His chief disciples, choosing the twelve among them to be the members of His inner circle. They were entrusted with the power and authority to do many great signs and wonders, cast out demons and perform many other miracles. They were sent out with the mission and the task to prepare the way for the Lord, to proclaim His Good News and truth among the people and to call upon everyone to repent of their sins and wickedness. The Lord entrusted to them the mission and the outreach to His people, revealing His love and salvation to them through these disciples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all continue to do our part so that in each and every action of our lives we may truly evangelize, do missions as active disciples of the Lord. We must continue to do our best in proclaiming the Good News in the midst of our respective communities, that all of us may continue to touch the lives of more and more people around us. It is through all of us and our efforts and contributions to the Church’s missions and works in this world that will help so many fellow Christians find their path towards God.

PNP expands checkpoint inspections

By the way, beginning yesterday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) included cars and other four-wheeled vehicles in their routine checkpoint inspections nationwide. This was after PNP chief, Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil, gave the order that checkpoints would no longer be limited to motorcycles but also include four-wheeled vehicles.

It is a good idea to expand the PNP checkpoint and Oplan Sita operations to all types of vehicles because criminals are not limited to using motorcycles in their illegal activities. I remember when we were conducting checkpoints and manning control points within the NCR in 2003 onwards and from 2020 to 2022.

General Marbil was right when he said, “There was this stigma about people who were riding-in-tandem.”

There were cases of riding-in-tandem criminals perpetrating shooting incidents and robberies. This was said to be the reason the police focused on motorcycle riders at security checkpoints.

And it is true that criminals can use four-wheeled vehicles in their activities.

However, Marbil is concerned that inspecting vehicles apart from motorcycles may cause traffic.

“Let’s not cause any inconveniences to the people, but expect us to treat everyone equally,” said Marbil, who was once Director of the PNP Highway Patrol Group.

Earlier, a memorandum dated 22 June 2024 from PNP Directorate for Operations director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Salvador reminded policemen of the proper conduct at checkpoints.

Salvador said they had received feedback from stakeholders about the “selective” implementation of checkpoint protocols by police officers.

Meanwhile, Quezon City Police District director Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan said policemen usually check four-wheeled vehicles that are heavily tinted and without license plates.

“We inspect every vehicle, including armored vehicles, without plate numbers,” he said.

The non-adherence by some PNP personnel to the policy has placed the force in an awkward position that cannot be defended, no matter the reason for such discriminatory implementation and so the PNP leadership is doing its best to correct these things.