I am not embarrassed to say that I cried in a restaurant in Makati where I was having breakfast when I saw the Philippine Daily Inquirer Sunday edition with that front page photo [of a present day Pieta]. I have not been so moved by a photo in years. I could see the love, anguish, sorrow and despair in the face of the woman as she grieved over the body of her husband.
Regardless of whether or not the fellow was a drug pusher, no one should be shot like a dog in the street by masked vigilantes too cowardly to show their faces to their unarmed and helpless victim, and the grief of a widow should not be belittled as mere drama by anyone — much less the president and political father of the nation. No president, even with the best of intentions, should numb the sensitivities, compassion and respect for human life in the mind and soul of the people who look up to him for moral guidance.
Charlie Borromeo, San Francisco, California