They miss the point. Criminality has so risen that ideas that can help government maintain law and order should be welcome. A directory of wanted felons is just one of them.

All the same, some wags are saying that the PLDT residential, government, and commercial directories already list all of them, except that they are not identified. It should be a simple matter of placing asterisks or red stars beside the names.

However, there are serious people who are suggesting a refinement of the directory. Why confine ourselves to a bulky, heavy directory? Posters in every office, factory, and school will be more convenient and even profitable for printers and bidding committees. For good measure, why not billboards on the highways instead of those commercial ones which mar the skyline?

In the US, the clear pictures of wanted criminals can be seen online. There’s no place for criminals to hide in this information age.

The question is whether civilians will have the courage to cooperate in a climate of fear. They remember too well the fate of whistle-blowers, including journalists, some of whom are something else. In the movies, civilians who see criminals going about readily go to the nearest telephone to inform the police. Can that happen here?

But there’s one thing that a directory of wanted felons may lead to in the midst of rising unemployment. It can spawn an unknown occupation in this country: That of bounty hunter.

We have a number of tough guys who go around robbing and mugging people. Their anti-social habits can be converted for the good of the community. They will hunt down wanted felons for a fee.

As it is, monetary rewards are being offered to informants or informers. But licensed bounty hunters, aside from doing what authorities are unable to do, may ease unemployment and reduce criminality.