Statement of Concern of the Mindanao State University Alumni Association on the Maguindanao Massacre

The Mindanao State University Alumni Association (MSUAA) condemns in no uncertain terms the tragic, gruesome carnage obtaining in Maguindanao, Mindanao Island, Philippines, last Monday, 23 November 2009. The bestiality of the act committed against innocent civilians - harmless women, their unarmed escorts, journalists and legal counsels, whose only mistake, if ever, was in helping sustain the fragile democracy in the area by their effort to ascertain the participation of some people in the incoming electoral processes, is unparalleled in the history of modern times, and has even eclipsed the equally condemnable senseless killings in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia.

We salute the victims for their courage in pursuing their respective role in their chosen professions, and as faithful citizens of the land who dreamed and believed that democracy may still blossom and bear fruits even in an arid and hostile environment.

The Association is aghast, however, by the very slow, tentative and unproductive actions of the government authorities in pursuing and bringing into justice the perpetrators of the heinous crime. It is therefore encouraging all sectors of society, the civil societies, the churches, those in academe and professional organizations to put more pressure on the government to prevent a whitewash, a fading action, and eventual amnesia of the event. The Association urges everybody to be vigilant on this matter and never to let this pass until justice is brought to the victims and their families.

The members of the Association are truly saddened by this unfortunate development in Mindanao. The people have already suffered so much from poverty, inequality, social and political uncertainty, and violence that grip the Island. The government ought to put an end to this, stop playing patronage politics, exercise political will and use its iron hand to restore order and sanity in the broken land.

The members of the Association condole with the families and kin of the victims with deepest and sincerest sympathy in this soul-wrenching time of their lives. But we are requesting them to remain calm and sober and to let the law and divine justice take their own courses so as not to escalate the crisis in our midst.

We pray to God to listen to the wails of those who grieve over the untimely death of their loved ones and to comfort and assure everyone whose heart has been seared by the tragedy that justice and peace will ultimately prevail in our beloved Mindanao.

SALAM!

Atty. Halil A. Lucman

President

William R. Adan, Ph.D.

President-in-Waiting