Amnesty for Terrorist? Give me a break!

@wergild (189)
Philippines
July 24, 2009 1:45am CST
I wonder what was Senator Gordon thinking when he urged MalacaƱang to grant amnesty to the Abu Sayyaf? Perhaps he was just taken out of context or worse he is suffering from simle case of ignorance that leads to hysterical proclamations or maybe he is really so ignorant. Those Abu Sayyaf bandits are not rebels, disgruntled by the political and social situation decided to take arms against the government. Rather these people are pure, sadistic humans deprived of civil behavior. All those rants about Bangsamoro Homeland or Islamic independence are just farce. What's so political about raing women and beheading defenseless captives? Does the good senator equate their kidnap for ransom activities as legit political struggle? What do you think?
1 response
@eileenleyva (27562)
• Philippines
24 Jul 09
Hi wergild. Let us not be too harsh in our statements. I am coming in from the cold here because I did not hear the news but I am sure that Sen. Gordon is not ignorant. I have a cousin who is staking his life in Mindanao as a soldier. He once told me that the bandits are very young, uneducated, and poor. They are a people lost and perhaps the only orientation they have in life is to hostage and kill. I had wondered why the Italian hostage Vagni refrained from judging his abductors. Why should be so fast in judging them?
@wergild (189)
• Philippines
24 Jul 09
Young, uneducated and poor. Lets not forget they make perfect killing machines. Its a sad fact that these people have a choice to be decent members of the society but the Abu Sayyaf turned them into bandits without remorse or compunction to kill. And yes your cousin is a soldier. Perhaps you ask him why it is right to give amnesty to bandits and im sure he will say no after seeing his fellow soldier beheaded and seeing women hostages getting rape. Perhaps when your cousin goes home and he tells you about the way Abu Sayyaf treated their captives you'll say the same thing about Senator gordon. There is a big difference between a rebel and a bandit and I say it to the Abu Sayyaf as a whole.
@wergild (189)
• Philippines
24 Jul 09
P.S. download a video that shows the Abu Sayyaf beheading a captive. Then you can tell your cousin, my brother and my cousin fighting in Mindanao that these "holy warriors' are eligible for amnesty
@eileenleyva (27562)
• Philippines
24 Jul 09
My family had already lost a cousin in Mindanao. The war seems futile. But there are many children there who were brought up to believe that life is killing. From the reports I hear, the bandits are in their teens... 11, 12, 13 , 16... We have a far deeper problem than just the violence of beheading. I had hoped that we could propose better solutions for our countrymen. Amnesty may really be too much, considering what they had done. Have you a working proposition in mind? Maybe we could begin offering ways to correct this painful wrongdoing...