Peace-loving Filipinos?

Now that it is summer in Japan, rather a cooler one this year we are told, we are happy to meet Japanese friends from various universities here for a short visit, either to do research or to attend workshops.

We warmly welcome Prof. Nejima Susumu and his students from the Toyo University Itakura Campus who are here to learn about the situation of the Philippines in general and of Cebu City in particular.

This is the 3rd year of academic exchange between the University of the Philippines-Cebu and Toyo University. Their visit this year is very special, within UP's centennial. Among other results, the cultural interaction among the students and faculty of both universities is one of the invaluable rewards of this collaborative activity.

On the topic of peace, our other visitors last week, Prof. Gus Yokoyama of Ferris University and Prof. Hassui of Ibaraki University shared this research theme with us. Stopping overnight for a friendly reunion, we had a very fruitful lengthy discussion, sharing interesting research updates both about the Philippines and Japan.

The two visiting scholars asked us if we remember any massacre committed in the Philippines by Filipinos on fellow Filipinos. The massacre of Escalante, the Mendiola massacre were among those brought up. Of course, the present conflict in Mindanao was also a topic pursued.

Then, their next sharing made us pause.

Prof. Gus and Prof. Hassui informed us that so far, they have observed that in the Philippines, the number of people killed in massacres in the Philippines totaled to some hundreds at most. In other countries of Asia, massacres affected thousands of victims and wiped out entire communities as in the case of Cambodia. They shared that so far, their collected oral and written data showed that the Philippines differed from the rest of their Asian neighbors - that is, the intensity of such massacres in terms of number of lives and destruction of communities seemed less here in our country than our Asian neighbors.

Of course, they quickly qualify, this is their present hypothesis subject to more data collection and analysis. But if it is proven that throughout the history of this country, the recorded massacres are less in number of occurrence, less in terms of victims among our people and our communities, what can such data prove about us Filipinos?

Our visitors asked, "why are the massacre victims here not in thousands or not more than hundreds? Why are not communities wiped out as well?"

Then, together with them, we tried to go back in time to check whether we Filipinos have a collective memory of violent massacres in our midst, of severe fighting of Filipinos vs. Filipinos. Except for the continuing Mindanao war, we do not seem to remember "grand-scale massacres" that annihilated thousands or millions of our own people and that wiped out communities from the map. We remember and condemn, of course, the military conflicts in the countryside and those affecting our indigenous peoples. "But altogether, do the numbers total to thousands or millions?"

If indeed data will prove that massacres in the Philippines are less in terms of occurrence and victims, can we theorize that we Filipinos are more peace-loving compared to our Asian neighbors? In the midst of the present Mindanao crisis, the increased number of journalists killed, those who die among the poor, the hungry and our indigenous brothers and sisters, can we really say that we Filipinos are more peace-loving, more peaceful than our Asian neighbors?

We do know proudly that our grand Ifugao rice terraces were built without any forced labor, without any record of severe beatings and deaths of slaves or workers. We are proud of collective memories of peace among us. It is only when organized military groups clash, representing vested partisan interests, that conflicts appear in our midst and consciousness.

We'd be happy to hear from you all regarding your recollections of massacres involving Filipinos vs. Filipinos and about our being peace-loving as a people and nation. Our email is [email protected]. Please note the b after cherry to ensure our receipt of your messages.

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Email: [email protected]