Blacker than kettle

When one steals from the rich to give to the poor, one is considered a hero. When one steals from the poor to enrich oneself, that is a corrupt politician. When one steals for the sake of stealing, then one should belong to a mental institution. But if one steals from the victims of a tragedy, I cannot even find the words to describe them.

They are blacker than kettle. And I refer to their souls.

A story during a relief good distribution in Cainta elicited all the hate within me. A man riding a relief truck hoisted a can of corned beef among the flood victims and yelled, "Eto, 50 pesos lang!"

That guy belongs in hell (and he should go right now too). The truck, obviously a truck of relief goods, was being raped of its contents by "selling" it to the flood victims. Selling something that is really intended to the victims, and making money out of it?

I've heard of dead bodies discovered when the water cleared in the streets of Marikina. And it made me think why that guy wasn't one of them.

Stealing from tragedy victims levels with crimes of murder and torture. Those guilty should be meted with the death penalty. But if one thinks one should sell a donated Levi's jeans in order to be guilty of such an action, think again. Here are some actions which I think belongs to the same category:

- Receiving cash donations for the victims and then pocketing them

- Exchanging a donated good with something of lesser value

- Overpricing one's products because of demand due to the tragedy (like the funeral parlors, and carwashes)

- Lying about the donations received

- Posting as a relief center in order to accept donations from misinformed donors

- Waiting for media to "picture" you before giving the donations to the victims who obviously need them at the moment
- posting as a victim when one is not just to received the relief goods for oneself

- Giving donations in order to get votes in the coming elections

A tragedy brings out the real characters of people. And some characters wake up my hate.