He helped ‘Yolanda’ victims

The news on aid worker David Haines having been beheaded by terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) saddens all of us. Haines, the third to be beheaded by Isis, was a member of the International organization Acted, which was among the first to respond to the devastation wrought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in November 2013.

Acted stands for Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development. It rapidly sends assistance to survivors of calamities and related incidents. Acted is a service organization committed to helping others. We were lucky Acted acted at once upon seeing the devastation the typhoon caused in the Visayas.

It pains humanity and especially the victims of Yolanda that Haines was brutally murdered by Isis terrorists who defy reason in their call for jihad. Today even unarmed soldiers, volunteers, Red Cross workers—those who help people in distress—are no longer spared. Terrorism has plunged to its lowest level. It is also saddening that groups of Muslim Filipinos, like the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, have publicly proclaimed their allegiance to the terrorist Isis, though some of them may have joined out of curiosity or for a taste of adventure only, which is in fact a misadventure.

Now, we Filipinos should all be concerned about Isis spilling to our shores. Isis is an organization made up of not only ruthless men but of killers who want to proclaim violence as their god and master. They want to bring back the barbarity, pagan practices and the reign of terror of the olden times.

The whole Philippines mourns the loss of David Haines. His family should be proud of him, as well as the families of the two other victims who died in the hands of Isis terrorists. David’s memory will live in the hearts of Yolanda survivors. He could have helped so many more people had he not been murdered.

—TOM LEE ZACARIAS,

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