Speech: Beyond Outrage (on the Maguindanao Massacre)

Good morning.

In the aftermath of the massacre in Mindanao, our nation, the Philippines, has expressed indignation amid cries for justice. It does not matter whether the lives lost were those of journalists, wives, sisters or lawyers. What matters is whether we can truly render obsolete such political killings. We can no longer stand on our cries, nor stand over the bodies of the Filipinos who have innocently died at such terror without walking away the wiser.
The massacre happened even after repeated calls for the government to show its political will on the side of peace and justice. It is the most shocking and outrageous crime that happened in our country in nearly a decade. These murders can only be done by those who are without conscience and whose minds are darkened.

I therefore stand before you to call on everyone to go beyond the emotions of shock and outrage, beyond the superficial “activism” that comfort us with little gains, and beyond the usual finger-pointing at government and law enforcers. We have to admit that violence of this scale exists because there are holes in our system that calls for immediate and decisive action. This crime only proved that we still have marginalized people in our midst and we made them hungry and jobless. The dead women in Maguindanao shows that we kept our women powerless while we have kept warlords wealthy, goons armed, and promoted politics as largely a game for the rich. It has been said that it is now cheaper for politicians to simply eliminate opponents by any means other than to run against them.We need change. First in the way we vote for our leaders. As long as we keep to our habits of voting the most-funded, believing in the handsomest, succumbing to undemocratic rhetoric, and trusting in dynasties of any shade, our fledgling democracy will always be rudely awakened by the violent renditions of these biases.

We need change. Second in the way we react to these heinous crime. Most of us simply get shocked and enraged, but we do nothing. We must do something, not after the crimes are committed but before. Our lawmakers need to pass laws that would discourage criminals and soon-to-be criminals to do anything that would harm fellow men.

We need change. Third in the value we give to life. Life is the most precious gift we received. Whether it is ours or not, we should value life with dignity.

We have always professed to love democracy but we have sadly fallen short of realizing and promoting democratic ideals of tolerance, fairness, access to equal opportunities, and the universality of human rights. Many still believe that power is the only access to a good quality of life.

We must wake up from this misconception. It is time to look beyond the usual and act against the trend and re-write our nation's destiny. It is up to us as citizens to learn about social justice. We need to be stakeholders of every Filipino life. Only then are we sincerely advocate of democracy and progress.