On Wars, Atrocities, Violence

Yes, we need to remember our barbaric ways towards one another -- the piratical raids by marauders who were Muslims, the violence inflicted by the colonizers (from the Spaniards to the Americans), the atrocities committed by the government (from Aguinaldo to the present), the excesses undertaken by the revolutionaries or rebel forces (Katipunan, RAM, NPA, MNLF, MILF, BIFF), the killings against the innocents, the suspects, and those involved in illegal drugs, etc. We need to face the dark truth: we are a people prone to violence. It is in our blood. It is in our DNA. Our earliest forefathers had to defend their families and tribes against wild nature and other human beings. 

Such state stays with us. You go to any kanto in the Philippines, and see how little boys behave towards strangers. Where did these boys learn about being a wolf to others? Well from the movies, television programs, their environment, our households. Perhaps we need a civil war to put a closure to our state of violence. Or perhaps a miracle will do. 

Take your pick.

On Two Lunas, Two Mabinis

The deaths of Bonifacio and Luna were deadly blows to the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War. To some extent, these were sadly justifiable to keep the revolution in tact. But the deaths wouldn't have been necessary if our revolutionary leaders exercised a little bit more of maturity. That they were young was a given. That they sacrificed their lives and comfort for freedom was admirable. That the enemies had superior arms and more discipline individually and as an organization were odds not in favor of the divided, ill armed and less organized revolutionaries. That traitors were used to defeat the Filipinos is a bitter truth to swallow. 

As inheritors of our past, we need to ask ourselves now who are the real enemies of our present generation, as well as recognize the present day traitors who keep our country a hostage to new forms of colonialization. We are a great nation that fought three of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. But we need to be more mature, more circumspect, more disciplined and more united than ever before to secure for ourselves and our children a future that we all can be proud of.