For more than twenty years since the Philippines ratified its membership at the World Trade Organization (WTO) the already backward Philippine agricultural economy suffered more and more defeats.
The Mamasapano clash on January 25, 2015 between the Philippine National Police Special Action Force commandos and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (allegedly joined by Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and private armies) marks another historic botch in the country.
While waiting for the Board of Inquiry to complete their investigation of the Mamasapano tragedy, it may be good to train our eyes on the communities where cornfields had been turned into battlegrounds.
With the rigmarole in the testimonies of the resource persons in the ongoing Senate hearing on the Mamasapano, it is doubtful if it can be relied upon as an avenue in the search for truth.
Women religious in Mindanao have been in the forefront of the causes the marginalized, deprived, exploited and oppressed sectors of the society have been fighting for.
One very vital question asked several times is: Who directly ordered the operation at Mamasapano? And this has remained unanswered. Another question asked is this: Was the US involved in the operation? Everyone seems to evade the question or avoid answering it.
To wait for 2016—or for fraudulent electoral process toprevail with the dominion of Trapo politicians—is to allow the cycle of social injustice and all other attendant evils of the Status Quo to perpetuate and prolong the agony of the masses.
ONCE again the Filipino nation is faced with a crisis. It is a crisis that cuts across the moral and political character of the leadership in government.
In the necrological services held in their honor much has been said as praises about their heroism aside from the medal of valor awarded to each of them considered as heroes fighting in the name of the pursuit for peace.
We pay our highest respects to the fallen 44 and to the civilians who died at the Mamasapano bloodbath, as we call for accountability and justice from this government’s ineptness but ALL OUT WAR is NOT an option.
