After the mourning
Two weeks after the bloody incident at Mamasapano, Maguindanao the question that seems to puzzle everybody's mind is that, what now? What's next for the country's security against terrorism?
It has been a week of mourning. The national day of mourning was not enough to express disappointment over an operation that killed 44 of the greatest men in the police force. The feelings continued through bald heads and half mast flags. Even the children of the next generation are now taught of the value of those men who died in the midst of combat.
It is nice to know that kids now will remember that once upon a time in their lives, 44 men died just so the country could get rid of a terrorist. But how much of an impact will it make? Especially with the different thoughts that seem to cloud this incident. Some say it's time for all-out war, or that there must be reforms in the divisions of the police and the army. Now a truth commission will be formed to investigate all this. Again? It seems like commissions could point the answers to all the questions. If only they could understand that all this could never be solved if deep thinking is not done. Consultation, not just pure blabbering.
This is the problem in our system today. When an untoward incident happens, we point our fingers most often at the wrong person. That wrong person is placed in hot water until the ultimatum has been reached. Several solutions are offered but none really seems to address the problem. Our country needs an efficient system when it comes to making decisions, not just spur of the moment ideas which are oftentimes band-aid solutions.
Some of the men are now laid to rest. Several of them were visited by top rank officials in our executive government, just to show their sympathy but the tears of the family members could not stop from flowing. They want justice, pure and real justice. They need hard evidence that the subject of the operation is already dead, with a DNA sample with no proof at all is not enough. The whole nation wants to know if the men did not die in vain.
This week has been full of deaths. On top of the 44 men, one great teacher from my university passed away due to stroke. He was also very young, probably had the same age as the PNP SAF comrades. We all considered him a gem, but the luster has faded; we all had to say goodbye but the legacies live on. Also, my great grandmother passed away. I may have not gotten to know her that well but I know that she has contributed a lot to our clan in terms of personality and attitude. Her ingenuity and resourcefulness has gotten us far, and by that we can never forget her.
I guess that's just how it works when someone dies. We bank on the legacy so that we could keep going. This legacy allows us to see a new hope in the way we see things in our country today. We remember the memories and the pain but these sporadic moments are keys to a greater life ahead of us all. But of course, justice should prevail.
Now what? We wait and see what happens next after losing 44 great men. I think it's high time that we shift from mourning to finding out what we can do to avoid such incident again. We, as Filipinos, should get on our feet to do something so we will not lose one more soul again.
- Latest
