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Thursday, November 24, 2005
Wenceslao: Spiral of violence
By Bong O. Wenceslao
I HAVE been to Palo, Leyte only once, and that was in the ‘90s when I was a fellow of the UP Creative Writing Workshop. We stayed in a resort that was a few meters away from the monument that depicted Gen. Douglas McArthur’s landing in Leyte to fulfill his World War II “I shall return” vow. I went there early mornings to savor the sea breeze.
We weren’t able to visit other areas in Palo not only for lack of time but also because there was no need to. So I don’t know Barangay San Agustin where a violent incident has caught the attention of even the Manila media. But based on reports, I could easily imagine the general look of the place---rural and therefore largely neglected.
When I heard the report Monday, I could only shake my head. Indeed, the more things change the more they stay the same. I have known of similar, or even worse, anti-insurgency-related incidents in the past and all I can say is that only the faces of the protagonist have changed. And realizing this brings forth anxiety and sadness.
Even the content of the verbal exchange between the Central Command, which claimed that the nine (seven?) farmers that the 19th Infantry Batallion killed were rebels, and militant groups, which claimed that what happened was a massacre and not an encounter, is but a repetition of the accusations and counter-accusations of years ago.
In this, my heart goes to the poor victims, among them a pregnant woman, obviously caught in the middle. It has always been like this in wars everywhere, ordinary people getting the brunt of the violence unleashed by the struggle. As what has become apparent now, the Palo incident is linked to the age-old feudal problem in the rural area.
I used to believe that wars could be conducted in a decent manner, sparing the innocent and minus the excesses. But having experienced a struggle up close, I realized that wars are always dirty. The long-drawn war, for example, between government troops on one side and the New People’s Army on the other has not been without abuses.
What the Palo incident showed is that until the roots of the rebellion are addressed, the war will drag on and with it the excesses all peace-loving people abhor. We will be seeing people from both sides and even those in the middle burying their dead and crying either for justice or revenge. Blood will continue to spill and tears to fall.
I remember one moonlit night more than a decade ago when a wild thought flitted in my mind. I was sitting alone on a slope watching thousands of lights on the plain below when the hope that a better life could be had without waging war visited me. Since then, it has become a recurring thought, one that flitted in my mind again as I listened to reports on the Palo incident.
TEXTREAX. From Gor U of Capitol Site, Cebu City, on my column yesterday about Councilor Augustus Pe Jr.: “The best thing that Councilor Pe and Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeńa can do in the current controversy regarding the use of a government vehicle in “inspecting nightspots” is to seal their lips. The more they reason out, the guiltier they sound.”
(khanwens@yahoo.com/ 0927-2055064)
(November 24, 2005 issue)
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