Filipinos are fond of having fortunes told. Despite the undeniable modernity and tremendous progress our country has made, we still believe these baseless predictions. Perhaps, this is one of the unique traits we Filipinos possess, a thing that makes us who we are.
The end of the world, the next president, and the coming of the Lord from the heavens are just a few of the predictions we Filipinos are used of believing. Anything is possible when it comes to predictions. Some people use or go to a certain medium, the fortunetellers. They are those who are allegedly “gifted” at seeing the future and “blessed” with knowing what will happen next. But, we should not rely only on these people. After all, they are just humans like us. They eat, drink, sleep, excrete and take baths like the rest of us. Therefore, not all they say can be a 100% guaranteed to happen.
This story is not about the fortunetellers settled in line outside the Quiapo Church, but the predictions people are making with regard to the outcome of the gruesome Ampatuan Massacre in Maguindanao.
This was the event that stopped the world in turning. This happened exactly 2 years and 1 day ago, a horrible circumstance where 57 women and media people were killed, 57 lives taken without any reason except for that of electoral advantage. Now, the families of the 57 victims are in their second year of grieving for their loved ones, and are still searching for true justice.
Two years is too long. Too long of a burden that our judicial system puts on the bereaved in search for justice. It is too long for those who are in search for absolute peace in Mindanao. Being a pure Mindanaoan, the success of this case is an opportunity for peace and understanding to sprout in the vast land. It could be the beginning of progress and development in my homeland Mindanao.
But this positive vision might be delayed. There are a few predictions that it will take more or less 50 years for the Ampatuan Massacre to finally be resolved. Fortunetellers have said that the powerful people suspected to be the culprits – such as the monarch of the south, the Ampatuans and the Former President now Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – will make this prediction come true. Through their power, wide influence and connections, these people will do their very best to hide the truth and steal justice from the 57 lives killed in the massacre.
But as I said, predictions are all baseless. Therefore, it should not be believed. In order to achieve justice for the 57 victims of the Ampatuan Massacre and their families, we should unite in urging the government to take immediate action on this case. We should all be as one in demanding that the authorities fast-track the case and get justice for the victims of the Ampatuan Massacre so that the pain, grief and burden will not have to be relived year after year.
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