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Senator Revilla says the hostage-taker, Jun Ducat, is a noble guy who helps a lot of poor people, and a labor leader. He says, at least for him, that Ducat is not insane or a drug user.

This case reminds me how, back in school, when we had discussions of the wrongness of "the end justifies the means" or "doing evil that good might arise", we would be amused by the fact that men have always done so without realizing the gravity of their actions. Then we look at the real world and be awed by the fact that we have learned nothing.

In many ways, Mr. Ducat is no different from Fr. Panlilio. Both have taken to despair and have decided to justify their decisions for the good they hope to obtain. I'm not challenging their aspirations, but their means are certainly objectionable.

In Mr. Ducat's case, it is objectionable for the obvious reasons. In Fr. Panlilio's case, the objection comes in his "casting pearls [his priesthood] before swine" [in its literal rather than idiomatic sense]. It tells a lot about the man who might actually believe that "saving the province of Pampanga from supposedly corrupt people is a greater good than having the faculties to actually summon God upon the altar.

Anyway, it appears that Mr. Ducat is a wealthy guy who owns several businesses, at least according to Rene Sta. Cruz of DZBB. And Senator Revilla is supposedly his kumpare. Weird...