It is very easy for some people who did not have to make
hard decisions and speaking from hindsight on scant information to come up with
a conclusion on the Marwan pursuit operation that felled 44
members of the Special Action Forces of the Philippine National Police in
Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
They call for the truth but at the same time demand heads to
roll with specific personalities in mind.
Yet despite our best
laid plans who can really tell the future?
Anger in a time of grief is understandable. But if we give
in to anger we risk making wrong choices and deepen our losses. If this
terrible tragedy that cost so many lives happen in a time when we are supposedly
on the verge of peace, how many more lives are we prepared to lose in an all-out
war? True there can be no peace without justice nor honor without truth but let
us not mistake revenge for justice and angry opinion for truth.
It is thus
reprehensible that instead of steering the public to sobriety some members of the
media even stoke public emotion to fury substituting their opinions and
speculations for news and discarding objectivity, fairness and balance all
together.
In the past, did soldiers killed in the line of duty,
whether by the MILF or NPA receive similar arrival treatment with the president
on hand? What was media opinion then? How ironic that the man who is working to
end this carnage will be pilloried simply for working on the day the soldiers’
bodies arrived in Manila.
We cannot correctly honor our heroes in anger, for by so
doing, we fail to discern who truly grieve with us.
If we are angered that the killers of the SAF 44 looted and
desecrated the policemen’s bodies by stealing their weapons and clothing we
should also be outraged at the effort of the leftists to take advantage of the
situation by sowing intrigue in the military and calling for President Aquino
to resign. Their call is nothing but rank opportunism and cold hearted cynicism.
The SAF
44 died for the country, peace and freedom. They did not die for the cause of
the marching militants.
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