We can only hope that impunity triumphed just for one day.
The massacre at Maguindanao was not only an outright insult to the Filipino people, but it was a brazen display of the victory of impunity. Unarmed civilians, in the exercise of their duties as citizens and as productive members of society, were brutally murdered, slaughtered, and mutilated by a squadron of armed assailants, presumably under the orders of a powerful political force in an already troubled region. The journalists – our vanguards of free expression – have already said their peace about their slain colleagues. The lawyers – our vanguards of justice – have already expressed their anger to the fate that befell their compañeros and compañeras. Political figures – our vanguards of peace – have already made resounding condemnations of how citizens were murdered to deny them of their rights.
Part of the tasks of the justice system is to determine guilt and innocence. It dispenses of the necessary punishment where it is lawful, just, and fair. Yet it is the task of society to ask and answer that question: “Why?” It must rationalize, it must provide an explanation, and it must find answers to that elusive question. Why did this happen? Why must a slaughter of such barbaric proportions take place in a free society? Why was this done, if at all, contemplated upon?
Was it power? The end did not justify the means. Was it greed? It took way too much effort to satisfy that greed. It was impunity, plain and simple. The license to murder. The license to rape, to rob, to steal. The license to exercise power indiscriminately, without regard to prudence and temperance. The license to slaughter.
