A Mindanaoan's reaction to martial law in Maguindanao

I am writing about my reaction of all these troubles in Maguindanao and about the reaction of
others who disagree with this development of martial law in the province.For days I could not
sleep because I can no longer imagine traveling in our highways in Mindanao. I realize I could
just be killed as easy and as tragically like that while traveling in the highway en route to the
next city. In fact in Mindanao one can just get brutally killed even without an enemy. One just
need to have people like the Ampatuans and one just has to be in the wrong place at the wrong
time.People who think they know everything in Mindanao but in reality they know not one bit at
all of what is really Mindanao. People who have loads of theories but they have never even been
to Mindanao and lived there.I listened to these people and thought how eloquent they are. How
so seemingly knowing. They shout for justice but they are not listening to what is happening. Do
they even listen to the anguish of the family of the victims? The hills of Shariff Aguak scream
for the vengeance of the blood being shed there. The blood of the victims who were brutally and
mercilessly killed shout agonizingly for justice.Are you people in the NORTH really listening?
You all have nice ideas of how to go about pursuing justice for the victims but you have not even
one iota of idea what it is like in Mindanao right now. You see the news but you do not
understand our fears as Mindanaoans. You have candle light vigils every night and shout for
justice but you oppose the martial law that paved the arrest of the perpetrators. You all have nice
ideas but are far removed from our reality in Mindanao. You are just busy saving your own butts
in memory of the Martial LAw in 1972.Granted you suffered in that martial law. Back then the
martial law served a different purpose. All laws change but situations change too. Today, we
need the martial law in Maguindanao to protect other people who are not part of this skirmish.Or
do you need another convoy or busload of people to be mutilated, killed and buried to believe
and say yes we need to act harder? The martial law is a provision that can prove to be useful
otherwise you could have just removed it.Why not give this provision a chance to save the
people of Mindanao, Maguindanao in particular? Or maybe I can suggest you all people go live
in Mindanao. I would love to hear your voice shake in the wake of the sounds of gunshots
nearby. I would love to hear your voice beg for protection from the government. I would love to
see you walk on the street and watch your back for lurking gunmen. I would love to see
frustration written in your Filipino eyes as the justices in Mindanao refuse to handle cases of the
Ampatuans because they are scared.You see the news report in TV Patrol how the search
warrants last NOV.23 did not include the bigger houses of the Ampatuans in Shariff Aguak.
Why? Because the justices are scared to issue these warrants. When Devanadera said there is a
collapse of function of the government agency there I totally understood. Why? Because I am
from Mindanao.People are talking about tension in Maguindanao. The place has been tense as far
as I can remember. The Ampatuans created this tension to appease their hunger for war. They so
loved to be geared up for battle. People have been killed there like chickens under the so called
peaceful idealism of the people in the North! Maybe not as many at one time like what happened
last November 23.So why do the real Mindanaoans welcome Martial Law? Because right now,
that's what we need. The military forces in this area assures us that we are not forgotten though
the people in the North (in the Capital) would just prefer to do so they can continue with business
as usual. We do not care who issues martial law. For it is a question of survival for today and the
coming weeks. When one is treading life and death, one does think of the whole future. One just
needs to survive for the moment. Right now, that is the real situation of Maguindanao.

JUDITH BANTAN
 

JUDITH BANTAN