Responding reasonably
As we mourn the death of 44 SAF officers and men, and honor them as heroes there are calls for an all-out war against their killers. There are calls too to stop the peace process and junk the BBL.
These incendiary reactions are understandable. That carnage was clearly unjustified. Those peace keepers went to Mamasapano to enforce the law. But why were they slaughtered mercilessly, and even mutilated? And who did it but the very group with whom peace talks with the government are ongoing? We grieve for the loss of those young lives. We suffer with their loved ones, their widows and orphans.
Yet in times like this we should not let emotion control our action. When the heart is bitter vengeance is almost the only language it knows. But vengeance generates vengeance and once started the cycle of bloodletting goes on. That's why in primitive societies feuds exist and ethnic cleansing is the rule of the game. Primitive societies, however, are governed by primitive minds. These are impulsive minds and instinct driven. It's an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth towards the enemy. Peace? It exists only in the grave-yard.
Calling for blood to avenge the death of SAF 44 is therefore a primitive way of responding to that event, gruesome as it was. Philippine society is of course a civilized society, and Filipinos are civilized people. Three hundred years of tutelage in Christian ethos and half a century of democratic upbringing have honed the modal Filipino mind into an entity of reason, compassion, and tolerance.
Reason dictates that we treat that happening following the rule of law. Hence, we should apprehend those responsible for the carnage after identifying who they were. By ourselves alone this may be difficult. We should therefore enlist the help of the MILF leadership in doing so-that is, if they are willing to. If they aren't we can treat this as bad faith on their part.
Reason should also make us realize what a Mindanao war would amount to. Imagine the casualties not only among the combatants but also among civilians. Imagine the dislocation of families and loss of livelihood. Imagine the damage to commerce and industry as well as the destruction of infrastructure and public structures. In short, imagine Mindanao as a no-man's land, an irony really, because it used to be a land of promise.
Reason also tells us that no social group loves violence for violence's sake. Violence is something opposed to the natural tendency to live and let live. If a group tends to be lawless and anti-social, it could be because circumstances drive them to become so.
Consider the Muslim Filipinos in that place. Why have there been for decades armed klatches who operate outside the mandate of the law? For answers one can look at the socio-economic situation of the Muslim communities in that place. Are the basic necessities of life such as food clothing and shelter available in acceptable amount? What about education, is the basic and higher level of this within the reach of the average individual? Any person who is familiar with the quality of life of the mass of Mohammed's followers in Mindanao knows how lowly and pitiful it is. And he knows too who is being blamed for such condition-the entire Christian community and their government. One can argue for and against this frame of mind, but the fact remains that the one sector of Philippine society that cries for sympathy and help is the Muslim society.
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