Shadows of the past
“Through our words and actions, let us show the true face of the Filipino: compassionate, not violent; puts value on the life of others, and not in ending it.” –Vice President Leni Robredo said. Likewise, the CBCP condemned the EJK in our beloved land and country. The Sacred Scripture taught us: “Thou shall not kill.” This is the stand of the Catholic Church. This is the teaching of my God, your God, and our God.
The sweet promises of President Rodrigo Duterte have remained swirling in the lips of the past. Although there have been significant improvements, it cannot be denied that the once sacred land of Philippines has turned out to be the bloodiest, if not in Asia, in the Southeast just within a matter of two years. Even our vice president and the leaders of the Catholic Church have already called out an action of unity towards the recent killings of priests, spiritual leaders, government officials, and innocent youth. Now, where do we stand?
Perhaps, the most logical explanation why many Filipinos have voted and wholeheartedly supported Duterte and his plans was because of the change we wanted. We have badly thought about how Aquino’s regime has inflicted great damage to our economy, leaving us no choice but to choose the president whom we think can help us redeem ourselves. While it may be disappointing to see how our country has turned out to be, we are part of the blame. In our excessive desire for instant change, we developed the mindset that ‘war on drugs’ is the best alternative, we have perceived that the reckless mouth of the president can topple corruption, we have become impartial with our decisions and most of all, we placed our faith on something that’s actually uncertain. But all these are proven wrong. Things got even worse recently as extrajudicial killings became too rampant – not just with the targets of this war on drugs, but even now to those who dare oppose the government.
The current situation of the country is like that of a game where we are the pawns of this battle. More so, we are like rabbits being hunted down, anytime, anywhere. In fact, the number or people killed in the first Martial Law declared by the late president, Ferdinand Marcos, will even be outnumbered by the number of deaths from the extrajudicial killings in the term of President Duterte. True that this may just be a broadsheet of statistics, however, it is equally alarming because these numbers don’t remain as such. These statistical data are a reality where me, you and everyone are involved. And that loudly questions us. Are the lives killed everyday still worth it for a Philippines that has even become shaky?
Even the economy has gone insane. The new TRAIN Law has affected many sectors of the country. The prices of goods are hiking, gasoline doubles up, and basically everything will eventually be affected. Worse, each year, everything is only going to increase. One friend of mine joked once that probably this is the way of the president to end poverty in the country. And that is by making it intentionally difficult for the poor people to acquire the basic necessities so that they will suffer in hunger and only people belonging in the average to rich class bracket will live. With that, more innocent lives will be gone.
As a nation mainly constituted by Roman Catholics, Christians and Muslims, it is imperative for us to reevaluate our conscience. Even if you set aside religion, in the spirit of humanity, life is a sacred gift. And it is by all means that we must protect one another. We don’t want to happen what happened almost three decades ago where many Filipinos suffered – the first Martial Law after World War II. If in the present the number of abuses made is already as scary as of the first Martial Law’s, then what more if it is declared under President Duterte’s term?
Although it is unclear to say what the president plans for our country, we must stay firm and be guided. One cannot help but think that all these drastic changes are part of a game plan so everything will be dependent on the government. The extrajudicial killings, the frightening tomorrow of our economy due to TRAIN Law, and the unimportant issues caused by the national authorities are all threatening us. If you think about it, all these are possible factors that are leading to state rebellion and then afterwards declaration of Martial Law.
The cycle of issues we face now as a nation is like a huge tide that drowns us, disorients us from seeing the true horizon of chaos and prevents us from having a stable grip on a firm land. No one right now can really predict what our government has for us. But through these – killings, abuses and manipulation of economy – the obvious symptoms of Martial Law, we can slowly feel the shadows of the past, if not stopped now, starting to reappear.
– BRO. JOHN PAUL D. DOMASIAN, M.S, RPH, Bacolod City, domasianmspharmacist@gmail.com.