MANILA, Philippines - Peace and development are not the sole responsibility of the government. Government alone cannot achieve these without the peoples’ active participation. This is an unarguable fact and many a community realized this early while others too late.
The island provinces of Sulu and Basilan including the conflict areas of Central Mindanao have not realized this yet as such suffer the consequence of the indifference of some quarters who refuse to cooperate with the government or just suffer in silence.
Ironically the terrorists and the dreadful criminals among them are so few compared to the overwhelming majority who had been yearning for peace in silence. In their discontent moreover grows a flicker of hope as some of the people realized the futility of their acquiescence. The most recent of this is the successful assault of the government forces on the hideout of the dreaded Albader Parad. The chieftain of Abu Sayyaf and a number of his followers were killed in the encounter.
The successful operations against Parad is attributed to the cooperation of the civilian community. This success is a demonstration of how the people cooperating with the government peace keeping force can promptly eliminate the unwanted elements in the community. If this bravery and cooperation are duplicated in other places in Sulu, Basilan and Central Mindanao, we are certain that the misery of our brother Muslims in these areas will finally come to an end. After all, for now, they must have known which side are truly out to protect them. — MIRIAM DAHUNOG, Iligan City