21 to Life: Rise after Assault

The guns, the expressions, the creepy shouts from people, the robust of the men, the invasion and
diabolic intentions affected each one of us. These were the memories that couldn’t forget abruptly. The
outlandish invaders fought against the garrison. The town folks ran for their survival. Houses were cited
for the exchange of gun fires and prolonged in almost two weeks. Some were intentionally burned out,
and some were used as bases of this vile elements, and resulted to a lurid circumstances which caused a
lot of lives of the civilians (especially the hostages), the military and MNLF troop (more than 100 were
killed) to die. Soldiers, who fought for pacifism, were dying. Government continued to withstand with
their major plan (to kill or incarcerate this bad elements) in order to continually have liberty over the
reprehensible acts. Oh God! I can’t even believe that it is happening.
I almost felt like tears are getting me over controlled as I watch the poor face of little kids in the
evacuation centre. Eating inadequate food for nourishment, sleeping on uncomfortable sheets of
tarpaulins, posters and etc. which according to them, it is be a big help in anyway by just simply
suppressing the trauma that was imposed in their mental capacity for this is a crucial part of their lives.
Seniors are deprived to embrace life with such happy things they must have done until their very last
moment.
To drink in sufficient and potable water for the entire family one should wait for his/her turn on
a line to fetch and get some with their individual gallons. A scene from the people I felt grief. The kids
have been eating insufficient nourishment from food. Some are getting sick such as fever, diarrheal,
nausea, LBM and so forth. I once asked myself, “Do we really have to experience this atrocity, for what?
Is it what God planned for the entire humanity? Or it’s just so happen that barbarous creatures do exist.
During the war, a lot of people got squirreled by the troop to serve as hostages or in a cruel
perspective, to be human shield. Old man, a boy, a mother, an adolescent, a pregnant and even a priest
were being taken away the moment they first stepped in Zamboanga. Hostages got killed, got shot, girls
were raped and other got stifled for disobedience. But on the bright side, people who have not been
directly affected continue to live their lives as if normalization was spread throughout the city. A handful
of stores and establishments continued to operate. Nevertheless, multitudes of our fellows are still in hell
trying to overcome the vile memories and scenarios which the Misuari faction’s onslaught brought about
the downfall of peace and created war.
We have learned our lesson from this crisis. We learned to be united, in harmony, to love and
respect everybody. Bottom line, love and solidarity are prevailed over the insurgents of the MNLF. We
can still see some facetious and hopeful faces despite of the nightmares they and we’ve been through. A
passage written by Shakespeare said, “So long as men can break, or eyes can see, ears to hear, so long
lives this, and this gives life to thee.” In relation to the lessons we learned or must learn from the siege,
life is precious. We must value life than anything in this chaotic world and be thankful for still having the
chance to explore and make the best of it for God is our creator who created us and who loves us. So in
return, we shall emit love, show care upon our peers and value everything he had given upon us. Be smug
of what we have because God has planned much better things.