Friday, August 17, 2007 Editorial: A first class dilemma
ACCORDING to news reports emanating from Metro Manila, widows of soldiers killed in recent fighting in Sulu with the Abu Sayyaf and rogue members of the Moro separatist movement are asking the government to stop the "war" in the area to avoid further bloodbath.
Adding their voices to the clamor are certain members of the Senate whose concern is the cost of "war" (P1 billion a month) more than the amount of blood being shed by both sides in the conflict. They are afraid of losing their pork barrel billions to such a war.
One would think that those who lost their loved ones in the fight against lawless elements would want nothing more than vengeance against the killers. To refrain from going after the killers is tantamount to encouraging them to continue their lawlessness with impunity.
But the mother of slain Army 2nd Lieutenant Charlie Anthony Camelon has refused to join the "stop the war" chorus of other war orphans. In a firm voice, Aloha Camelon said: "All my son's mistahs (PMA classmates) are very angry. They all want to avenge his death." It's all about bonds that tie. And honor.
As for ambivalent Senator Aquilino Pimentel, he said that "those responsible for the atrocities (in Sulu and Basilan) should pay for their crimes, and in the next breath he adds: "But the President should heed the people's wish to avoid unnecessary carnage." As for presidentiable Senator Mar Roxas, he had this to say: "The government must heed the widows' call and seek a peaceful alternative in the light of the heavy casualties." How does that peaceful alternative look like? He didn't say.
How can government make the killers pay for their crimes by preaching peace to them instead of going after them in the only way it can be done--through force of arms? The Abu Sayyaf and their allies will simply sneer at any attempt to make them surrender. They know only war. For them, real peace is found only in the silence of the graveyard.
And so the debate continues. To be, or not to be. How does one talk peace to terrorists? For the government to show weakness is to invite endless trouble. It is ironic that a government seeking peace sometimes must find it necessary to wage war.
