Opinion

On the hostage taking in Manila… I have always thought being No. 1 was a good thing, not until the Philippines became No. 1 in corruption in Asia. There is nothing to be proud about that. Then, there was the hostage taking. The hostage taking that turned every foreign eye in the Philippines. The hostage taking that caught the attention of the whole world. For a day, it was the world’s top story. Again, the Philippines is the object of ridicule. Right then and there, I wanted to save the children. I wanted to save my country from humiliation. There was nothing I could do but watch as the Filipino people were slapped with the reality of widespread corruption. What transpired simply reflects the amount of frustration Filipinos have on the form of corrupt government we currently have. It is just sad to know that it had to go that far. I know the incident did not even bother real causes of the hostage taking. Heck, I don’t even know if they still have the conscience. Damn it. Damn them. Most, if not all, government officials are corrupt. So corrupt that they do not even deserve where they are right now.

However, when all has been said and done, the end still does not justify the means. Whatever the intention was, it is never enough to put so many lives in danger. Those who violated the law must suffer. Still, we must keep in mind that what they fought for was every Filipino’s struggle: education, corruption, poverty. These maladies have been in Philippine history far longer than its discovery. I don’t even know if there will ever be a solution to these lifelong problems.