They Can not Live Without Arms
Dismantling the armed infrastructure of the Moro Elite
Benjamin V. Sumog-oy
Published in Sunstar, November 25, 2009
I was requested by my friend, John Paul Jubelag, publisher of a local paper in GenSan, to draft a statement of condemnation against the recent media massacre in Maguindanao for the different media groups in General Santos Island . This I intend to do in this space, but for the meantime, let me publish the statement which I drafted, which was signed by all media practitioners here, as a prelude to our future discussion. Here is it:
The whole nation was stunned or shocked by the news about the recent massacre of about forty innocent people; among them were thirty-four members of the media, mostly women, working for both the national and local media networks, two young lady members of the Philippine Bar, wife and women relatives of a prominent politician and some of their political sympathizers.
What made the incident even more repulsive to the conscience were the methods through which the killings were carried out by men in full battle gear, whose savagery had surpassed by kilometric distance the barbarities of the pre-historic period. The hapless members of the press, most of them women, together with few others, were mercilessly riddled with bullets, some were beheaded; while others were mangled to death when a backhoe, a heavy equipment usually used for construction, which is reportedly owned by the provincial government of Maguindanao, was used to smash the vehicles they were riding while they were still on board. Some of the women were reportedly sexually defiled.
This sad incident, which almost put the whole nation in a stand-still, could go down in the history of human civilization as the fiercest and the most savage attack against press freedom, and the whole society in whose sacred altar the members of the press had willingly offered their lives. The level of barbarity employed in the wholesale killings was so vile that it even surpassed the savagery that visited Nicaragua and East Timor during the darkest periods in their respective history as a nation, and the barbarities that continue to punctuate the people’s collective search for peace in Afghanistan
Still to recover from the state of shock and disbelief … and anger(!), WE, THE MEMBERS OF THE LOCAL MEDIA IN SOCSKSARGEN, condemns in the strongest possible terms this wholesale murder of the members of the press and other innocent civilians, and the blood-letting that soaks Mindanao, once more, in crimson blood, but, this time, in the blood of the defenseless members of the media.
With their grieving families, we cry for the justice of the victims. Our conscience can never rest until the perpetrators of this evil act are meted retributive punishment, and until sanity is restored in this troubled land. We cry for justice, and, with the grieving nation, we call for collective actions, in whatever form, from all sectors of society. As one people, we should show our outrage and disgust. We should show them that our society does not condone, and will never condone, EVIL!
As blood flows from the mangled bodies of our comrades in the continuing struggle for genuine freedom in this part of the country, the fire of anger speedily engulfs our souls and the soul of this nation. We will never stop to seek for justice; we will never falter in our resolve to pick up the torch of freedom from where our fallen brothers and sisters in the media had left them, and to continue with their journey until freedom is restored or until death also does its part, too, for us.
For the members of the media, FREEDOM is life itself, or even more precious than life, for without it life is meaningless. Thus, we will continue to bow down to the majesty of freedom in this Island, until the formal institutions that are legally and morally responsible for our social protection shall have dismantled the dreaded armed infrastructures of various political clans in this part of Mindanao which are now used to murder freedom or render it impotent… or until society, by its own natural way, would decide to correct itself so all the people could fully enjoy the blessing of freedom, and all other beautiful abstractions innate in their humanity.
Lastly, with grieving hearts and determined resolve, we call upon President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to mobilize all the given powers of the state at her disposal to effect the immediate dismantling of the armed infrastructures of the various political clans in Mindanao, especially those suspected to be responsible for this wholesale murder of the media, more particularly in Maguindanao and its adjoining areas, so as incapacitate them and prevent them from inflicting further harm to the people and cause more damage to press freedom.
Towards this end, we also call upon the President to effect the immediate relief of all army and police commanders, at all levels, with all the elements of their respective troops, in Maguindanao and in the whole region and replace them entirely with new military and police forces. It is only in this way that the government can effectively incapacitate and dismantle the armed infrastructure of political clans suspected to be behind this wholesale media killing and some sections of the military and police establishments that clearly serve as their coddlers and protectors. Too, it is the only way that the government and the rest of the sectors can guarantee or ensure the attainment of justice for the hapless victims and their families.
This nation expects no less!
__._,_.___
Dismantling the armed infrastructure of the Moro Elite
I was requested by my friend, John Paul Jubelag, publisher of a local paper in GenSan, to draft a statement of condemnation against the recent media massacre in Maguindanao for the different media groups in General Santos Island . This I intend to do in this space, but for the meantime, let me publish the statement which I drafted, which was signed by all media practitioners here, as a prelude to our future discussion. Here is it:
The whole nation was stunned or shocked by the news about the recent massacre of about forty innocent people; among them were thirty-four members of the media, mostly women, working for both the national and local media networks, two young lady members of the Philippine Bar, wife and women relatives of a prominent politician and some of their political sympathizers.
What made the incident even more repulsive to the conscience were the methods through which the killings were carried out by men in full battle gear, whose savagery had surpassed by kilometric distance the barbarities of the pre-historic period. The hapless members of the press, most of them women, together with few others, were mercilessly riddled with bullets, some were beheaded; while others were mangled to death when a backhoe, a heavy equipment usually used for construction, which is reportedly owned by the provincial government of Maguindanao, was used to smash the vehicles they were riding while they were still on board. Some of the women were reportedly sexually defiled.
This sad incident, which almost put the whole nation in a stand-still, could go down in the history of human civilization as the fiercest and the most savage attack against press freedom, and the whole society in whose sacred altar the members of the press had willingly offered their lives. The level of barbarity employed in the wholesale killings was so vile that it even surpassed the savagery that visited Nicaragua and East Timor during the darkest periods in their respective history as a nation, and the barbarities that continue to punctuate the people’s collective search for peace in Afghanistan
Still to recover from the state of shock and disbelief … and anger(!), WE, THE MEMBERS OF THE LOCAL MEDIA IN SOCSKSARGEN, condemns in the strongest possible terms this wholesale murder of the members of the press and other innocent civilians, and the blood-letting that soaks Mindanao, once more, in crimson blood, but, this time, in the blood of the defenseless members of the media.
With their grieving families, we cry for the justice of the victims. Our conscience can never rest until the perpetrators of this evil act are meted retributive punishment, and until sanity is restored in this troubled land. We cry for justice, and, with the grieving nation, we call for collective actions, in whatever form, from all sectors of society. As one people, we should show our outrage and disgust. We should show them that our society does not condone, and will never condone, EVIL!
As blood flows from the mangled bodies of our comrades in the continuing struggle for genuine freedom in this part of the country, the fire of anger speedily engulfs our souls and the soul of this nation. We will never stop to seek for justice; we will never falter in our resolve to pick up the torch of freedom from where our fallen brothers and sisters in the media had left them, and to continue with their journey until freedom is restored or until death also does its part, too, for us.
For the members of the media, FREEDOM is life itself, or even more precious than life, for without it life is meaningless. Thus, we will continue to bow down to the majesty of freedom in this Island, until the formal institutions that are legally and morally responsible for our social protection shall have dismantled the dreaded armed infrastructures of various political clans in this part of Mindanao which are now used to murder freedom or render it impotent… or until society, by its own natural way, would decide to correct itself so all the people could fully enjoy the blessing of freedom, and all other beautiful abstractions innate in their humanity.
Lastly, with grieving hearts and determined resolve, we call upon President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to mobilize all the given powers of the state at her disposal to effect the immediate dismantling of the armed infrastructures of the various political clans in Mindanao, especially those suspected to be responsible for this wholesale murder of the media, more particularly in Maguindanao and its adjoining areas, so as incapacitate them and prevent them from inflicting further harm to the people and cause more damage to press freedom.
Towards this end, we also call upon the President to effect the immediate relief of all army and police commanders, at all levels, with all the elements of their respective troops, in Maguindanao and in the whole region and replace them entirely with new military and police forces. It is only in this way that the government can effectively incapacitate and dismantle the armed infrastructure of political clans suspected to be behind this wholesale media killing and some sections of the military and police establishments that clearly serve as their coddlers and protectors. Too, it is the only way that the government and the rest of the sectors can guarantee or ensure the attainment of justice for the hapless victims and their families.
This nation expects no less!
Experience
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