'My God Does Not Torture People'

That statement above came from Melissa Roxas, one of the thousands of activists, student leaders, labor leaders and peasants who have experienced the worst kind of abuse that could possibly happen in a supposedly free country like the Philippines.

Well, she's 'lucky' to be alive. Thousands of patriotic people like her had been either silenced forever or abducted to be perpetually tortured. Only a few had been able to escape: Raymond Manalo and Melissa Roxas.

They've told their stories but no one listened. Now, their number has risen to more than a thousand, the highest number of human rights abuses committed under a 'democratically' elected president since the martial rule.

In her press conference, she said that her captors claimed that they are 'instruments of God' trying to bring her back into the fold of the government. Roxas then replied in return: 'my God does not torture people.'

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We should expect more people like her to be abducted, killed or tortured as the 'deadline' for eliminating insurgency draws near. We should also not be surprised if they would target militant groups like Bayan, LFS, etc. because the AFP itself had claimed that these groups are 'front organizations of the CPP-NPA-NDF.' Which according to them, make them 'automatically' to be NPA members as well.

As for me, they are just patriotic men and women, true to the cause of the people and are advancing the common good in any way that they could.

It is no secret that some of their members end up being members of NPA as well. That is their choice. They believe that the armed struggle is the only way in solving the ills of our society. They believe that the armed struggle is the highest act of patriotism to help uplift our country from the way they see it. But not all of them end up that way.

But most of them simply love this country much that they are very much aware of the 'real' situation that is happening in the slums, in the countryside in the mountains. The very situation that our leaders should be able to see but either failed to do so or does not really care about it.

But believe me, no matter how hard the government tries to 'purge' our country from these 'dissidents and rebels', it would only further agitate these people to further advance their cause and make the Filipino people believe that these people that they are trying to kill are the people who are 'on the right side of history.'

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I bet this post would make me land on the AFPs 'watch list.' So if one day I had just suddenly disappeared, you would know where I am. Into the fold of the institution that is supposed to be protecting the people. But with the recent turn of events, it seemed they are much more willing to protect the interests of the few elite.

Nakakalungkot dahil minsan sa buhay ko pinangarap ko maging sundalo. Pero kung ganito lang ang makikita mo na nangyayari, wag na lang, sayang lang ang pagmamahal ko sa ating bayan.

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No offense meant to other soldiers out there who are not like some of those who are being used by the establishment to protect the interests of the few and suppress people who are just voicing out what everyone should know. It is just disheartening to see how they try to cover up the wrongdoings of their 'mistah' and end up doing the same as well.

That's why we have the coups. It is a sign that there are soldiers out there who feel the need for reforms within the military. But again, just like these people, the government does not even listen. Instead, they immediately label them as rebels.

Rebels, like Melissa Roxas and the thousands others who had been killed and silenced, who just had open up their eyes on the 'real realities' that is often downplayed by this government.

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And please, you are not God's chosen warriors that would get these people back to the 'right' path.

At para sa akin, ang mga 'rebelde' na ito ang mga pinili ng Diyos upang palayain ang bayang ito at ibalik ang lahat sa tamang landas.