BAGUIO CITY—Families left behind by 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers slaughtered in Mamasapano, Maguindanao gathered in Baguio City to commemorate the tragedy that happened almost a year ago.
Joining the families of “SAF 44″—as the late commandos are collectively called—are senatorial aspirant and former SAF chief Getulio Napeñas, former Tarlac Governor Tingting Cojuangco and activist priest Fr. Robert Reyes.
Vice presidential candidates Senators Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Alan Peter Cayetano have been invited to speak, however, they did not attend the memorial.
Some of these families flew all the way from Visayas and Mindanao to participate in the parade, which started at SM Baguio and ended at Ibaloi Heritage Park.
Of the 44 SAF men killed in the high-risk mission, 14 came from Cordillera Region.
‘Don’t forget us’
The families paraded tarpaulins with while and blue balloons bearing messages: “Justice for SAF 44,” “Hustisya nasaan ka na?”
(“Justice for SAF 44,” “Justice, where are you?”)
In the opening prayer led by Reyes, he slammed past and present administrations for its habit of burying memories of painful tragedies in the country—from calamities to massacres—and leaving these without closure.
“Sumisigaw, rumaragasa ang tinig at dugo ng SAF 44. (Sinasabi nila) ‘Wag niyo kaming kalimutan. Wag niyo kaming ibaon sa limot. Wag nyo kaming muling patayin dahil kung gagawin niyo ‘to, pahihintulutan niyo ang kamatayan pa ng iba at ng inyong sarili, ”” an emotional Reyes said.
(The voices and blood of SAF 44 are screaming and flowing. They are saying: “Don’t forget us. Don’t send us into oblivion. Don’t kill us again because if you do, you will tolerate the death of others and even your own.”)
As his message to the slain troopers, Reyes said: “Nawa’y ‘wag kayong tumahimik hangga’t hindi niyo nakakamtan ang katarungan.”
(I hope you won’t be fall into silence until you achieve justice.) RAM
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