Oh, boy.

What the hell is happening in our country?

Reading the accounts of the recent massacre in Maguindanao makes me cringe. Sitting here in my safe and unbearably quiet apartment, I cannot fathom how such a thing has happened in my country. I imagine that these things are possible in place like Rwanda, but the Philippines? Yes, Mindanao has had a long tumultuous history. But this? Oh, God.

Or maybe I'm just being naive about all of this. Growing up in my hometown, the worst we had to deal with was when we can't connect to the internet. And while my UP education has taught me that poverty is widespread in the country, it has never really truly taught me that the Philippines--supposedly the home of gentle, smiling people-- is the home of men who would do slaughter the innocent, like mere animals, all in the name of power and politics.

I read from history books that Manuel L. Quezon said, "I would rather have a country run like hell by Filipinos than a country run like heaven by the Americans."

The man got his wish.