Good afternoon, my darling Anne.
Confusion
There is a very confusing war of words that is being presently fought by angry people over last Monday's hostage-taking incident, my love.
People are reacting to the hurt and the fear that we all feel as human beings in the aftermath of a tragedy. The only different thing about this is that we are not just reacting as people, we are also reacting as nations.
And in this much greater and more abiding sense of human belonging, we are becoming confused. Because we have never in time felt this sense of an emergent global awareness before.
Where each our responsible states used to exclusively represent our collective values as distinct national communities, we now have found that we as nations have come to possess the technological and spiritual capacity to discover for ourselves what sets us apart and perhaps even more importantly, what joins us together.
It is through the lens of this perspective that I view what is now happening between the peoples of my own national community, the Philippines and the Filipino diaspora, and that of the Chinese national community in Hong Kong and across the width and breadth of China: We are communicating.
And in remembrance of those eight innocent Chinese lives - human lives - that were so abruptly taken away from our midst, I implore those of us who have ears to hear that we make good on these hopes and try to truly discover for ourselves what values our two nations hold in common with each other more than to forget what goodness there is for the sake of passing things as anger and hatred.
For all evil things are passing things - as all lineages of honorable religion will attest - but what goodness for us has wrought will stand the test of time.
Goodness will not only endure in the end, it shall prevail. So let us be ever reminded of this, O my nation, that our spirits may be roused to both courage and good cheer as we enter together into another working week.
Let us each be vigilant of heart that we may see through all of this confusion and follow where we must all be led -
If we shall give war an inch,
my beloved friends and constant companions,
if we shall willingly allow
a segment of our shared humanity
to become vulnerable to evil things,
if we freely and recklessly abandon
our Lord's poor,
in the weak, the defenseless,
the displaced, the dispossessed,
the widow, the stranger, the orphan,
we shall indeed soon find
that war and the ambition of war
has again overtaken us all
with the final defeat which is its curse.
For what war does to one, war does to all.
So let our one peace forever remain, one whole one.
Having said all of this, my fellow Filipino compatriots, let us not forget to pray for our leadership in the responsible state as well, especially PNoy, his Vice-President and the Executive Branch, most especially Secretary de Lima of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Secretary Robredo of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Secratary Romulo of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
---<--@
My Analysis
The only favorable outcome in a hostage-taking scenario is the rescue of the hostage/s.
Because of this, it is of a paramount operational concern to the incident commander that the separation, both physical and mental, of the hostage-taker/s and the hostage/s be effected as safely and as decisively as it is immediately possible utilizing all national resources at his or her disposal.
This was not clearly manifest in my own limited personal review of the operations that were conducted on behalf of the hostages and their families and friends last Monday.
I especially appreciate the interest that these tourists from Hong Kong have shown for our Country, they should never have had to undergo all that pain and loss. I will not forget them.
Justice requires that a thorough investigation be conducted on behalf of all those who have been affected by this crime. And there is a great deal many people who are affected by it.
---<--@
Today is National Heroes' Day here in the Philippines, my love - "Araw ng mga Bayani".
O Soldier of the Peace!
Noble defender of Country
You are life preserving life itself
For what is Country but life
Know you not why you respond
When duty calls you to battle?
Vague at times may reason be
Especially amidst the desolation of war
And the darkness of war's attendant evils
But forget not what you love
And forget not why you live
And none shall forget you if you fall
For in Country is your longevity
Life itself shall be your resting place
And God will forever love you
His Peace shall forever honor you
For the time you have given others
More time for building,
More time for sowing,
More time for loving,
More time for hoping,
For kinder days to come.
---<--@
I love you.
Always to always,
=^.^=
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