The Real Victims of the Mindanao Dispute

It has been weeks that news about the Mindanao dispute are proliferating all over the media. It really saddens me to no end to see my countryman fighting one another because of their own cause. My OFW hubby is a little worried about what was going on in the southern part of the Philippines. Here in Manila (Northern part of the Philippines), we are lucky enough not to be affected by the rift between the government and the MILF. But nevertheless, it does not mean that we have to be complacent. We should not! We should be more vigilant in our prayers, that the dispute will be over. I am praying to the Lord Almighty that it will be over SOON. That the so-called leaders of both conflicting sides will find it in their heart to sit down and talk, and compromise.

Photo Credits : Malu Manar of GMANewsTV
An elderly couple finds safety at an evacuation center in North Cotabato Tuesday amid fighting in the province. Malu Manar
Brown Pinay says : The elderly should be resting by now, but there they are victims of war, their fate unknown up to this day.
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Because of the attack thousands of residents have already evacuated their homes and properties. Some of the properties of the residents have been burned and destroyed and a number of which still continues to perished day by day. Among the most known publicized victims are the in-laws of the defunct COMELEC Chairman Virgilio Garcillano (MILF rebels hacked and shot to death the father-in-law (94 yrs old) of former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano and his brother-in-law when the guerrillas attacked Barangay Lapayan in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte.

At the end of the day, the real victims of the Mindanao Dispute are the innocent children, the elderly, the men and women who would just like to lead a normal life with their family, the family of the fallen soldiers and even the fallen MILF. Much innocent life has already been sacrificed. I hope that a resolution will be made.

I would like to quote Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop Oscar Cruz :

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Photo Credits : Chino Gaston of GMANewsTV
A young girl joins a group of soldiers as they eat ice cream at an evacuation center in Aleosan, North Cotabato Wednesday. Chino Gaston
Brown Pinay says : Look at the little girl behind the soldier, she should not yet still be exposed in the harsh reality of war and should still be enjoying her right as a child.

For the benefit of those who are also in my similar predicament, I will be posting in a couple of days about what I have learned through the researches I have made in the news and Internet about the cause of the Mindanao Dispute : GRP-MILF Memorandum on Agreement on Ancestral Domain

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