Mindanao in the Midst of a Crisis

Mindanao in contrast to everyone’s belief is a peaceful island of the Philippines. In fact, only a small part of it is where all the merciless killings, bombings and kidnapping happen, what’s left is sound place to live. This small part messed up the whole name. A part which had brought the whole country into the spotlight of questions and dismay. A part which directly contributed to the depletion of Mindanaon’s hope to have an over-all peace, that part is Maguindanao.

The whole thing happened on the morning of November 23, 2009 in the town of Ampatuan in the province of Maguindanao. There were 57 people killed, 30 of them are media personnels and some are lawyers. It is hailed as the deadliest election-related event in the history of Philippine politics. It is barbaric, they say. The most grieving among all is that the people who should protect them are behind this plot.

Many people risked their lives because of this nonsense fights. Many innocent children had lost their Mom or Dad just for the sake of someone’s victory and many families welcomed the new year with a member or two died. Isn’t it heartbreaking? The greed and pride of just a single family had taken 57 lives and numerous families.

This event violated the section 1 of Bill of Rights (1987 Philippine Constitution) which states that: No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

Everyone has the right to enjoy total freedom of life. What the Ampatuans did is they took away that freedom from the innocent people. They immensely used their power and influence to do their evil plans. They even used a government property to bury the dead bodies. Ridiculous but heartbreaking.

In relation to this mass killing, the government had taken action, to place Maguindanao under a state of martial law. This proclamation also suspended the writ of habeas corpus, which means the government can instantly arrest the suspects without any warrant of arrest. By this proclamation, more than 200 suspects were arrested and thousands of guns were confiscated. This action also brought the Maguindanaon’s to confusion, whether this will bring goodwill or worse to the province. But many say, the martial law is just a formality, it does exist in the province since the Ampatuan dynasty started.

The status of Mindanao is on the brim of revolutionary acts. Our place have gone and still undergoing so much stress due to facts that we are under unfair judgments. Our beloved land is criticized just for a single event happened on a small spot of it. The whole thing happened just like a rotten potato messing up bunch of potatoes on the basket. It is very demeaning to our part to be tagged as one of the unsafest place of the country. Mindanao is on a situation that needs a keen understanding and liberated minds to fully understand our situation. That’s what should be made now.