Concerns, dreams shared with NPA rebels
I am a junior BS Biology student in one of the universities here in Manila. My father, an industrial worker, toiled hard to earn a living for our family and, most especially, for my education. But he had to stop working because the company he was connected with lost some heavy equipment when NPA rebels raided their project site near our barangay in the province of Surigao del Sur. Two million pesos worth of equipment were burned by the New People’s Army.
My father felt more worried than myself. He is our breadwinner and I am sure there are more workers affected by this incident. Even workers from nearby provinces work in the same company. Dreamers like me who want an education will have to wait because of what the NPA rebels have done.
How many more workers will lose their jobs or lives, and how many more students like me will have to sacrifice until the NPA rebels realize that like us, they too have their own dreams? How many lives will have to end until these lawless elements realize they too have their own families to take care of? Maybe some of them will read my letter, and I hope they will come to realize that it is not too late for them to return to a free society and fulfill their dreams of a bright future.
—ALEXANDRA FAITH SANDOVAL,
