Outrage

There are no words. No words to express the shock and depression over what happened in Maguindanao. Over 40 people seized. More than 30 persons killed. And women reportedly raped before getting killed.

People were killed. More than just statistics. More than just numbers. More than just names. More than just issues. People, actual people with lives, work, and families were killed. Lives ended.

Not quite random. But senseless.

There are no words. We can talk about the issues. We can discuss the history of violence. We can look back to what has happened before. But nothing can bring back the lives of those who have been killed.

People died. And the best we can hope for, is that they didn’t die in vain.

This is Mindanao. Clan lines still matter. Private armies exist.

But it doesn’t just happen in this island. Not just in this place. And the issues and problems, the causes and circumstances go beyond a simple clan war or election violence.

This is the Philippines. More than 30 people killed in what is alleged to be election-related violence. Elections are chaotic and violent. Politics is dirty business. No matter what we lead ourselves to believe.

And the government, the administration, the president who is supposed to serve every Filipino seem to be inutile, unable to move, unable to do anything to stop the violence. Because, it seems, she owes a debt of gratitude to the accused.

Best we can do is hope. Hope that it will never happen again. And act. So that it will never happen again.

People died.