We look at the developments in the South American country of Colombia with envy.
Upon hearing of the report that the Marxist rebel group, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), finally freed the captive soldiers they have been holding for 10 years, we ask: When would the New People’s Army (NPA), which espouses an ideology similar to its FARC counterpart’s, follow suit so that the more than four decades of senseless bloodshed would stop?
The rebellion in Colombia lasted as long as the one we still have in our homeland. So much blood has been shed, so many lives have been lost, so much property has been destroyed, so much fear has been spread, all for nothing. Communism has lost its appeal and most of the communist and socialist countries have reverted to and embraced the western democratic system of government and free market economy.
The FARC rebels have also promised not to commit kidnappings and other crimes that they were wont to do, as they have sensed the futility of the cause they fought for.
I hope that our countrymen-rebels would all come down from the mountains, lay down their arms and live in peace and harmony with their fellow Filipinos, relatives, families and friends so that peace would finally reign.
—RAMON MAYUGA,
germayuga@aol.com