Justice for Maguindanao massacre victims
You may already have read this elsewhere but in honor of the victims and the families of the victims of the November 23rd Maguindanao Massacre, we would like to relay this plea for justice that remains elusive until now.
Ma Reynafe Castillo posted the following in Facebook:
"Six years ago, my heart was broken with this very sad incident. 58 people were massacred, including my dad, whose body we never found to this day". We tell the same story every year. We commemorate, we shout and call for justice. I might be thousand miles away from where it happened, but my heart is still with all the families that commemorate every year.
Babies in the womb at that time are now growing up like "Nono", "Japhet," who was 13 days old at that time, is now 6. They both grew up without dads to support them and play with them. Should these two little ones grow up without justice being served?
I read from the news that Unsay Jr wanted to have hospital arrest due to his liver problem. Does he need hospital arrest to derail the proceedings? I am not against him being taken care of by the doctor and be given right medications. But hospital arrest and derailment of proceedings is "NO." I want him (Unsay Jr) to live long of course.
Presidential election is coming. My prayer is that, the next president is a man or woman who has the heart to end impunity. A person who will put words into action. I pray that our justice system will have changed for the better and not for bitter.
As November 23rd ends in the Philippines, I hope, the call for justice will not end here as well.
I am with you in spirit and my heart still cries out for justice not only for ?#?maguindanaomassacre but also for all victims of violence and killings. ?#?Impunity must end for a better Philippines."
Many of us have experienced losing our parents. Even under ordinary circumstances, the pain and grief run so deep. Even if years come and go, the wound inflicted by death still remains.
How much more for those who lost their parents and loved ones under unjust circumstances like murder and massacre? For them, added to the pain and grief that death brings is the cry for justice that, sadly in this country, remains elusive with courts that still need to be more speedy about the conduct and resolution of so many pending cases.
Hopefully, the babies of the Maguindanao Massacre do not grow up to be adults before justice for their fathers is finally rendered. Together with them and the rest of their grieving family members, we join them in prayers for eternal rest and peace to be with their departed loved ones and for comfort for those left behind.
We also pray with them for justice to be rendered soonest so that the wounds of the painful past will be healed sooner and lives to move on, with closure, beyond the November 23rd massacre.
Many others locally, beyond Maguindanao, have lost loved ones through murders, massacres, bombings, and so on. The situation is not any better globally. Wars, conflicts, bombings, terrorism continue to inflict so much pain and grief to so many anywhere in this present world.
Where is the peace everyone hopes for? When will peace reign in this world?
As November soon gives way to December, once again, we are given another period to deeply reflect about our present world and to pray, pray , pray for peace and love to reign.
Will we ever have a world where children can be allowed to laugh and run free with their loving parents and siblings, with diversities respected, justice speedily rendered, and domination and abuse of the past no longer allowed and practiced?
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