‘Terrible, despicable crime vs humanity’

How so unfortunate and sad it is that even young students are not spared by terrorists. Early morning of Dec. 9, a bomb exploded inside a bus as it was passing by Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon. According to news reports, 11 passengers were killed, and 21 others were injured. Most of them were students.

There is talk that the bombing was done by new “graduates” of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) as their “first mission.” In all likelihood, the perpetrators of this senseless, horrible crime are of the same age as those who died in the blast. Yes, this is the other tragedy of this atrocity: On the one hand, young, budding lives were blasted into an early, painful death; on the other hand, young, innocent minds have been corrupted—were made to believe they killed for a cause, unmindful that their victims were as young as they are, aside from the many others also hurt in the attack.

May Allah, the Koran and its teachings open the eyes of these young BIFF members, that they may realize that what they have done was a terrible, despicable crime against humanity—an act never done by rational human beings.

—JAMIN O. ESDAL,
[email protected]