The Fallen Forty-four
Special Action Force - does the phrase ring a bell? They are the elite of the elite in the Philippine National Police. They are the special class that focuses on operations that are far more than the usual. They are trained hard for combat and terrorist attacks. They are not the military but it seems like they act to be one, only they deal with civilians because technically they belong to the arm of the PNP which is civilian in character.
These are basic information that everybody in this time and age already know about because of the severe reactions that seem to spawn on social media. We all know that on one very fateful Sunday, when forty-four men were about to serve a search warrant, they were caught in an encounter with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
They all died, brutally even. It was the nation's heartbreak that turned a public anger. One man named it a "misencounter." As to who called the shots, the commander-in-chief can be asked. More so, even showing up as the dead bodies arrived at the Villamor airbase, where was he anyway? News had him seen out and about at a car company, happily smiling at the new endeavor it brought. While the nation was weeping from the loss it had, a man who labeled himself as the country's father was nowhere to be found.
But we can't blame it all at him, right? Yet his presence would have made our pain a bit better. It's just like going through a very tough time in school or work. You would want to breakdown and give up but when your father is there, speaking to you words of encouragement, the aura changes immediately. At that day, we were all eager to hear those types of words but we only had our hearts broken even more.
Now the answer is not war to give justice to the fallen forty-four. There were lapses in the operation. For one, there was allegedly lack of coordination with concerned parties as well as wrong communication. Pointing fingers were imminent and the holy washing of hands could not be avoided.
If it were to me, we have to stop being so emotional at what happened. No use barking at the wrong tree when what has been done is done. We could only grieve for the families that have lost their pillars in their homes. Imagine, forty-four men who could have been good fathers to their children; forty-four men who could have been great teachers to the next batches of SAF men and women; forty-four men whose life stories could have inspired a generation.
It was a waste of the country's forty-four precious gems!
After a week of mourning, we seek for justice. The question is how, and why? Was the bloody encounter worth it, noting that the subject is still alive and was not in Maguindanao? When will we ever achieve peace in a country of islands which we call one?
These questions remain ideal and technical. If only answers were easy to find but now it's close as finding a needle in a haystack. The dream of achieving peace is something that I'm hoping for before the next generation is about to fail again.
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