You know that something is wrong with your country when 52 people are massacred in broad daylight.
The images that came out of Maguindanao show bodies strewn around a grassy field among battered vehicles. A shallow grave nearby contains even more of the victims of the worst political killing the country has ever seen.
You know that something is really wrong with your country when those 52 people included unarmed women and members of the news media.
With each passing day, more fingers point to the powerful Ampatuan family as the people behind the killing of the wife, sisters, and other relatives of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, along with the lawyers and journalists who accompanied them as they made their way to the provincial election office in Shariff Aguak to file a certificate of candidacy for the coming elections.
Something is terribly wrong in a country where no one is spared and no atrocity is too much in a person's quest for power.
Horrifying. Barbaric. Brutal. Despicable. One cannot run out of words to describe the Maguindanao massacre. But words are not enough anymore. Statements and days of mourning are not enough to convey the outrage of a shocked and incensed people.
We must have justice - justice as swift and as unmerciful as the brutal attack on the women and journalists in Maguindanao.
We must find out who was behind the atrocity and have them pay for their crimes to the fullest extent of the law. No one should be exempted. No one should be above the law. No one should be untouchable, even though they may be the ones in power.
Everyone should be held accountable - the government of Maguindanao, the police, the militia, and the military personnel in the area should be investigated thoroughly and made to answer for the massacre. Their failure in protecting the people they were supposed to serve and protect is close to being a crime in itself.
Declaring a state of emergency in Maguindanao is a too little and too late. None of this would have happened if the government had been doing its job in Mindanao properly. None of this would have happened if the security forces in the area had been doing their jobs properly.
The national government should step in and go after the perpetrators of this heinous crime, as the local government of Maguindanao has obviously failed in its duties.
None of this would have happened if we had never tolerated the excesses and the abuses of the people in power. We as a people are as much to blame as we have allowed a culture of impunity to perpetuate itself in our country. We let it happen.
Truth be told, political killings are not new in this country. Media killings are not new. But this is just too much. 52 people dead. Maybe more. All in one day. All in one place. All because of an election.
The violence has gone on far too long. It has to stop. All of this has to stop. All of this will stop if we do something about it. All of this will stop if we start to care.
The images that came out of Maguindanao show bodies strewn around a grassy field among battered vehicles. A shallow grave nearby contains even more of the victims of the worst political killing the country has ever seen.
You know that something is really wrong with your country when those 52 people included unarmed women and members of the news media.
With each passing day, more fingers point to the powerful Ampatuan family as the people behind the killing of the wife, sisters, and other relatives of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, along with the lawyers and journalists who accompanied them as they made their way to the provincial election office in Shariff Aguak to file a certificate of candidacy for the coming elections.
Something is terribly wrong in a country where no one is spared and no atrocity is too much in a person's quest for power.
Horrifying. Barbaric. Brutal. Despicable. One cannot run out of words to describe the Maguindanao massacre. But words are not enough anymore. Statements and days of mourning are not enough to convey the outrage of a shocked and incensed people.
We must have justice - justice as swift and as unmerciful as the brutal attack on the women and journalists in Maguindanao.
We must find out who was behind the atrocity and have them pay for their crimes to the fullest extent of the law. No one should be exempted. No one should be above the law. No one should be untouchable, even though they may be the ones in power.
Everyone should be held accountable - the government of Maguindanao, the police, the militia, and the military personnel in the area should be investigated thoroughly and made to answer for the massacre. Their failure in protecting the people they were supposed to serve and protect is close to being a crime in itself.
Declaring a state of emergency in Maguindanao is a too little and too late. None of this would have happened if the government had been doing its job in Mindanao properly. None of this would have happened if the security forces in the area had been doing their jobs properly.
The national government should step in and go after the perpetrators of this heinous crime, as the local government of Maguindanao has obviously failed in its duties.
None of this would have happened if we had never tolerated the excesses and the abuses of the people in power. We as a people are as much to blame as we have allowed a culture of impunity to perpetuate itself in our country. We let it happen.
Truth be told, political killings are not new in this country. Media killings are not new. But this is just too much. 52 people dead. Maybe more. All in one day. All in one place. All because of an election.
The violence has gone on far too long. It has to stop. All of this has to stop. All of this will stop if we do something about it. All of this will stop if we start to care.
