This very day last year I flew to Mindanao. It was my first time. I was scared for my life. I’ve always hoped Mindanao was the complete opposite of what media has depicted it to be. I was scared to be proven wrong.
Groups of soldiers at a checkpoint welcomed us upon exiting Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental. Mindanao was under Martial Law then. It was also the height of EJK (Extrajudicial Killings) in the country. My goal for this trip was to know the other side of the stories. So I asked the locals.
To my surprise, the majority of them have agreed that Martial Law has played an integral role in keeping the peace and order in Mindanao. “Don’t believe the news!” one said. “It’s been peaceful since Duterte became president,” said the other. The Manileños we’ve met we’re as amazed as us on how we could roam around the streets of Cagayan de Oro at night without fearing for our lives. I honestly felt safer here than in Manila.
But I’ll never forget a conversation I had with one of the locals on the way to Bukidnon. He said that before the Duterte administration, it was chaos in their town. He told us about how some members of Maute group were captured and shared how the justice system worked there. Apparently, EJK was (and still is) real and it’s prevalent from where he is from. He told us stories of rape and looting, and how the suspects were killed within days. Some of them were released from jail, but they never attempted to go back home to their families because they knew that there’s a vigilante group hunting them down. Mindanao is not an isolated case as killings continues around the country. Injustices, abuse and oppression are slowly becoming part of the norm. Heartbreaking, I know. Only a few are entitled for a due process. This time you commit a crime, you die.
I have a friend who believes in the vision of EJK. Yes, it’s possible to be friends with someone who has opposing views. We dont have to hate each other. She told me about their family’s first-hand encounter with a drug addict. And through that, I somehow understood where she was coming from. But in my head, I thought: is violence really our only option to seek justice? There must be another way.
Yes, towns are quiet, but people are scared. If peace is defined as this, I don’t want it. Francis Magalona once wrote: “You can’t talk peace and have a gun.” I still want to cling on to hope that justice is possible without violence. As Lennon put it: “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
