StrangersNotAllowed

(Disclaimer: This blog contains gruesome pictures and descriptions of massacre victims. Continue reading at your own risk)


Okay. So it is official. I am sleepless every Friday.

That is something that you will expect from a person who wakes up at 4pm the day before. I am slowly becoming a vampire, so what? Vampires are in anyway, no big deal. It won't hurt to be one of those oh-so-lovely creatures who fly as fast as a speeding bullet and hit baseballs so hard it causes lightning and thunder. It won't hurt to live for a thousand years anyway, except that you're not really alive (haha). Plus, I really cannot sleep right now because of this very horrible feeling that is trying to get out of my chest since Tuesday.


And because I have roughly 60 minutes to spare, I will write this blog and offer it to all those whose lives were sacrificed just because of a person's desire for power. So, where to begin?

Early this Monday morning, a shocking news aired on TV claiming of a kidnapping-turned-killing of several people in Mindanao. An aerial search found a site where four suspiciously abandoned vehicles were parked. A scouring of the place revealed that it was actually a grave site where almost 20 human remains were found ,that including the missing female relatives of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu who were supposed to go to Shariff Aguak to file the Certificate of Candidacy of the latter.

Almost twenty people were still missing.


A day after, more bodies were recovered, the death toll increasing from twenty to a shocking fifty seven. Some of the victims were media personnel who were asked to cover the filing of Vice Mayor TotoMangudadatu COC and serve as "protection" from the death threats that were sent days before.

The victims' bodies, especially those of the Mangungudatu women, were mutilated and battered. Some suffered multiple shots while others had their necks slit open. All women showed signs of rape pre-mortem, their bodies dismembered.

After hearing this inhumane incident, I cannot help but be enraged, not only at the mastermind of the crime but at the perpetrators as well who blindly followed orders from this monster and took innocents' lives.

The victims' families and some eye witnesses said that the Ampatuan clan, a rival political family in Maguindanao, led by Vice Governor Andal Ampatuan Jr. was behind this unforgivable act. The only reason: political rivalry, maintaining the status quo.


It is painful to think that the very core of what I am studying is the reason why 57 people lost their lives. POWER.

Wars arise. People are killed. Lives are devastated all because of POWER. Everyone wants to be the leader. Everyone wants to have the world at the mercy of their hands. Everyone wants to be GOD.

Looking at the pictures, I cannot stop my heart from breaking. I cannot help but think of the families that were orphaned all of a sudden just because a person wants to maintain his family's hold in Maguindanao. I cannot stop bu think of what these victims were feeling, thinking, when they were held up that Monday morning by more than 100 armed men and brought to secluded place which will soon be their grave site. I cannot stop but wonder whether they knew that they were going to die by noon. Were they able to say goodbye to their loved ones? What went through their minds? Did they fight back? Did they try to escape?

I cannot stop but think of what was going through the minds of those murderers while they brought their victims to that grave site where a hole was already dug, awaiting the corpses that will soon be thrown in it.

And then I stop and ask God, why? How could He let something as horrible as this happen? How could He let this devils kill innocent people--57 innocent people--just for power?

I grieve for those whose lives were lost. I grieve for those who were left behind, left to witness the mutilated remains of their loved ones knowing that justice will be as elusive as a hummingbird in the Amazon. I grieve for the journalists and the drivers who were there just because they wanted to cover a simple filing of COC and deliver news to the whole nation.

I ask for Justice. I know that it may be hopeless, knowing that the criminals behind these monstrous acts are protected by the GMA Administration. Still, I ask for Justice.

Those people deserved something better. They had a role to play in society. And yet, in just one moment, one fleeting moment, they were gone. They should not die in vain. Something must be done to give justice to them.




Still, when I think about it, there is nothing that can be done to take away the pain that was caused to those who were left behind. Nothing can ever replace human life. Nothing.

Mangdadatus Name Genalyn Tiamson-Mangudadatu	Description wife of Esmael Mangudadatu
Eden Mangudadatu	Municipal Mayor of Mangudadatu, Maguindanao, sister of Esmael Mangudadatu
Rowena Mangudadatu
Manguba Mangudadatu	aunt of Esmael Mangudadatu[16]
Faridah Sabdulah	[16]
Farida Mangudadatu	youngest sister of Esmael Mangudadatu[16]
Farina Mangudadatu	another sister of Esmael Mangudadatu
Concepcion “Connie” Brizuela	56, lawyer[17]
Cynthia Oquendo	35, lawyer
Catalino Oquendo	Cynthia Oquendo's father
Rasul Daud	driver of Pax Mangudadatu [16]

Journalists

Name	Description
Henry Araneta	DZRH
Alejandro “Bong” Reblando[3], 53	Manila Bulletin correspondent [18], a former Associated Press reporter[19]
Nap Salaysay	DZRO manager
Bart Maravilla	Bombo Radyo Koronadal City[3]
Jhoy Dojay	Goldstar Daily[3]
Andy Teodoro	Mindanao Examiner & Central Mindanao Inquirer[3]
Ian Subang	Mindanao Focus, a General Santos City-based weekly community newspaper[3]
Leah Dalmacio	Mindanao Focus
Gina Dela Cruz	Mindanao Focus[3]
Maritess Cablitas	Mindanao Focus[3]
Neneng Montano	Saksi weekly newspaper[3]
Victor Nuñez	UNTV[3]
Macario "Macmac" Arriola	UNTV cameraman[3]
Humberto Mumay	Koronadal City-based journalist[3]
Rey Merisco	Koronadal City-based journalist[3]
Ronnie Perante	Koronadal City-based journalist[3]
Jun Legarta	Koronadal City-based journalist[3]
Val Cachuela	Koronadal City-based journalist[3]
Joel Parcon	freelance journalist
Noel Decena	freelance journalist
John Caniba	freelance journalist
Art Belia	freelance journalist
Ranie Razon	freelance journalist

Red Toyota Vios

Number of casualties: 5. They were supposedly mistaken as part of the convoy. ^[20]

Name	description
Eduardo Lechonsito	Tacurong City government employee
Cecille Lechonsito	wife of Eduardo Lechonsito
Mercy Palabrica	co-worker of Eduardo Lechonsito
Daryll delos Reyes	co-worker of Eduardo Lechonsito
Wilhelm Palabrica	driver