Every Filipino is Guilty

More than 24 hours have passed since the massacre or—as the government wants to put it: 'misencounter'—in Mamasapano, Maguindanao transpired. This inhumane incident involved the death of 44 members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Forces (PNP-SAF) in the hands of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Considered as an ambush more than anything else, where only 8 members of the MILF and BIFF were killed, the President along with his lackeys chose to call this abomination a 'misencounter.'

However, the misnomer and the insistence of that misnomer in the part of the government is but only the tip of a sinister iceberg. The truly disturbing part of it all is that for more than 24 hours that have passed, the President is yet to address his constituents. Until now, we receive no consolation, condemnation nor assurance in any action the government will take (if there is in fact, any at all).

Nothing.

For more than 24 hours that have passed, the only thing the government could do is to point fingers, call this incident a mis-encounter and—goodness forbid—even blame those who died for they were 'lost.' We receive no acknowledgment of losses, we receive no sympathy, no reprieve nor do we receive any messages for the Filipinos to remain strong and unite in times like this for we have no true leader. No, what we have seated in power are heartless parasites the dumbed-down, unthinking masses put in place.

For more than 24 hours that have passed, the people of the Philippines remain apathetic—consorting to a 'public outrage' that remains just that: a public outrage with no plans of actions to be taken. It may sound hypocritical coming from a blogger sitting behind a computer, but this is precisely why France is a developed country and the Philippines can only wish to be. During the killings in the Charlie Hebdo, a total of 12 people were killed and almost immediately, the French took to the streets and unleashed their national fury. Here though, you would be hard pushed to find such movements as Filipinos boast a clannish culture—each one to himself. Sure, one would be forgiven to say that they have driven a dictator and a mediocre statesman through People Power I and II, but a compelling question remains: Where are we now?

Logic and a basic understanding of the current hierarchy of the Philippine Government compel us to think that these slain men were mobilized by either the DILG Secretary or the PNP Chief, who takes direct orders from the President himself. This is to pursue BIFF Commander Basit Usman and Zulkifli bin Hir, a Malaysian bomb expert with a 5 million dollar bounty on his head. Now, if it is also true that this massacre occurred because of poor intelligence (or whatever excuse that may be thrown for that matter), then it logically follows that every Filipino is guilty of having the blood of the 64 slain policemen as much as the MILF and the BIFF.

We put these people to power.

In our still feudal-colonial society, we vote the same crooks over and over again for we fear to think, we fear to change. We only help each other so long as we gain something in return. We cry of democracy and freedom, yet when it is time the Philippines needs us, we bow our heads and let the system of cruelty wash over us without even putting up a fight. In this day and age, we still nurture patronage politics and the padrino system despite of the evil these have caused us.

We move on, we recover and we put on a
retarded dog-like grin but
we never learn—we refuse to learn.

But never mind, the Filipinos are a resilient people. No matter what tragedy befalls us, we will get back up with a smile on our faces. The problem is... resilience is not synonymous to learning. Sure, we move on, we recover and we put on a retarded dog-like grin but we never learn—we refuse to learn. We scream foul of the inequities committed by those seated but we are bark and no bite. In fact, we even find it in us to stare in awe at these crooks whenever they break free of charges against them no matter the strength of evidence. Finally, we cry for change yet we are not willing to learn.

In the end, we are all to blame. Truly, it is more fun in the Philippines.