The many investigations of the fallen 44 are not helping our
quest for truth. It only shows our cynical affinity for entertainment. It is
like a wound that we enjoy poking repeatedly with a flaming torch. Regardless of
how many times we hear the same story, like a Terminator movie, we like to see and hear it again, but this is not a movie. People are dead, and the fallen are
not going to get up and shake hands with the director.
General Espina was emotional today, but would he be equally emotional if he had seen the countless Muslim men, women, and children
slaughtered by the Armed Forces? Was he ever assigned to Mindanao? If he had, he would be lying if he denied seeing the atrocities committed by men in
uniform of the Philippine government. If some of the fallen 44 were “finished off,” as the term they chose to use was correct, the MILF or other groups, including armed bandits that joined the fight, did it out of anger or vengeance
for a loved one whose life was likewise untimely terminated by the Armed
Forces.
There are no just wars – all wars are evil, and what happened
in Mamasapano should make the passage of the BBL even more urgent. There is no
guarantee that it will bring peace, but the best we have is worth the
gamble. Let us honor the blood of the fallen 44 and 18 freedom fighters with
peace so that theirs will be the last – Inshallah!
Killing the “BBL” will only benefit the merchants of death
and the political vultures who will be feasting on the carcasses of peace.
Often, I wonder if cats and dogs will go to heaven while humans go to hell because, despite our technological advances, we humans
have spiritually regressed. We have become as savage as ever towards each other’s.
Cats and dogs don’t tear each other apart like humans do. Open your TV and
watch how humans blow each other’s brains in HD. The “Mamasapano” incident is
not unique - it is happening as we speak in every continent of the planet…
NK
