Last Friday, we woke up to news of the shooting and killing of a German national, and the wounding of a French and Indian national at a McDonalds outlet in Talisay City.

News report stated that the two unidentified men were taunting the Indian national, and when his French companion walked up to the two men to confront them, a heated argument ensued.

The assailants left and returned with two other men who started shooting at the Indian and French national. Henry Haffner, a German national who was not associated with the two foreign nationals, was at the other table. He ran upstairs and was chased by one of the men who shot him several times.

Haffner, 31 years old, made it to the hospital but later died of severe gunshot wounds.

Police operatives conducted follow up operations on the suspects and were able to arrest one a few hours after. It is not very clear what the motive was for the shooting.

There are several cases of foreigners being murdered in the country, but the reasons usually evolve around business-related matters or personal grudges. There are even several cases when foreigners are involved in the shooting sprees themselves in the past couple of years.   

This case is a bit disturbing since I have never heard of a shooting of foreigners this senseless in Cebu before. If we base it on the initial reports, this conflict looks like it started out with racial slurs against an Indian national, which resulted to the tragic death of an innocent bystander who was mistaken to be with the other foreigners because of his color.

Henry Haffner was a hardworking individual who volunteered in local relief operations. From relief-ops in Bohol due to the earthquake, to Bantayan – an island that suffered immensely from Super Typhoon Yolanda, he went as far as to adjust his travel schedule to lend a helping hand.

I am hoping that this is not so; because if this current incident will be used to represent our society, then we have clearly taken two steps back. Let us look at this closely and address this problem before it becomes out of hand. After all, this will evidently affect our tourism, commerce, cultural maturity, and security if left in the backroom. The world is watching.