Judge, Jury And Executioner

[Mr Lee]

A few weeks ago the NPA came down to my wifes families otherwise peaceful village, which is in the heart of Mindanao and tied up a number of people and warned them and executed one man and no one seems to know why. You see it appears that they have spies who live in the different villages and if a spy says that a person is a bad person, then they either warn them, as they did to the people they tied up, or they kill them as then did to the person they executed. So I am wondering just how safe some parts of Mindanao might be for some of us who have family there. One person in the past was warned to straighten up or die the next time and he asked what he had done and the only reply was to not do it again, so how was he to know what he did.So what if my wife and I were to go to our family village and not knowing who these spies were, we were asked to give or loan some money to a person who lives in the village and I refused, and then that person text to their NPA friends and say I beat my wife. The sad part is the story I am staying can and does happen. One of my wifes brothers was warned by the NPA because it was said that he was mistreating his wife. In this case he had to leave the family village and flee to another island because he was told that the next time they would not warn him but would just kill him and he believed them. So how safe are we all really when going into areas which are strongholds of groups such as those. So now it appears to me from all that I hear, that the NPA and other groups are actually gaining strength in remote villages and are recruiting more and more spies, and those spies now have an awful lot of power over life and death, life can become awfully cheap and no one might be safe from a disgruntled relative or neighbor until the root cause of all these insurgencies is cured, but will that ever happen.Now am I afraid to go to the village because of all this, of course not but I do so full well knowing the risks I take and readers who are going to be new to the Philippines, also need to know the risks they may take while visiting some of these places within the Philippines where insurgency seems to be strong.Now all this is just my opinion based on personal observations, and each and everyone should think for themselves, but with their eyes wide open.Last, do I blame the NPA for what they are doing, it is not for me to judge or interfere with how things are done here since I am an outsider, I just hope they do not just take the word of one person when they decide to kill someone and that if they decide to execute someone, that they know that someone is actually guilty of the crimes that they think they are and that those crimes are ones that warrant death and not minor offenses.

[Singers]

A few weeks ago the NPA came down to my wifes families otherwise peaceful village, which is in the heart of Mindanao and tied up a number of people and warned them and executed one man and no one seems to know why. You see it appears that they have spies who live in the different villages and if a spy says that a person is a bad person, then they either warn them, as they did to the people they tied up, or they kill them as then did to the person they executed. So I am wondering just how safe some parts of Mindanao might be for some of us who have family there. One person in the past was warned to straighten up or die the next time and he asked what he had done and the only reply was to not do it again, so how was he to know what he did.So what if my wife and I were to go to our family village and not knowing who these spies were, we were asked to give or loan some money to a person who lives in the village and I refused, and then that person text to their NPA friends and say I beat my wife. The sad part is the story I am staying can and does happen. One of my wifes brothers was warned by the NPA because it was said that he was mistreating his wife. In this case he had to leave the family village and flee to another island because he was told that the next time they would not warn him but would just kill him and he believed them. So how safe are we all really when going into areas which are strongholds of groups such as those. So now it appears to me from all that I hear, that the NPA and other groups are actually gaining strength in remote villages and are recruiting more and more spies, and those spies now have an awful lot of power over life and death, life can become awfully cheap and no one might be safe from a disgruntled relative or neighbor until the root cause of all these insurgencies is cured, but will that ever happen.Now am I afraid to go to the village because of all this, of course not but I do so full well knowing the risks I take and readers who are going to be new to the Philippines, also need to know the risks they may take while visiting some of these places within the Philippines where insurgency seems to be strong.Now all this is just my opinion based on personal observations, and each and everyone should think for themselves, but with their eyes wide open.Last, do I blame the NPA for what they are doing, it is not for me to judge or interfere with how things are done here since I am an outsider, I just hope they do not just take the word of one person when they decide to kill someone and that if they decide to execute someone, that they know that someone is actually guilty of the crimes that they think they are and that those crimes are ones that warrant death and not minor offenses.

In ONE word Terrorists. Use of Reason - fairness - are not considerations, before OR after, carrying out their acts. ONLY by terrorizing the Community do they hold sway.We, eXpat "Foreigners", if killed by them bring a host of trouble upon them FAR outweighing any advantage gained from their act against us. Restricting our internal travels in PI is a prudent option. Edited April 4, 2010 by Singers

[TheMason]

A few weeks ago the NPA came down to my wifes families otherwise peaceful village, which is in the heart of Mindanao and tied up a number of people and warned them and executed one man and no one seems to know why. You see it appears that they have spies who live in the different villages and if a spy says that a person is a bad person, then they either warn them, as they did to the people they tied up, or they kill them as then did to the person they executed. So I am wondering just how safe some parts of Mindanao might be for some of us who have family there. One person in the past was warned to straighten up or die the next time and he asked what he had done and the only reply was to not do it again, so how was he to know what he did.So what if my wife and I were to go to our family village and not knowing who these spies were, we were asked to give or loan some money to a person who lives in the village and I refused, and then that person text to their NPA friends and say I beat my wife. The sad part is the story I am staying can and does happen. One of my wifes brothers was warned by the NPA because it was said that he was mistreating his wife. In this case he had to leave the family village and flee to another island because he was told that the next time they would not warn him but would just kill him and he believed them. So how safe are we all really when going into areas which are strongholds of groups such as those. So now it appears to me from all that I hear, that the NPA and other groups are actually gaining strength in remote villages and are recruiting more and more spies, and those spies now have an awful lot of power over life and death, life can become awfully cheap and no one might be safe from a disgruntled relative or neighbor until the root cause of all these insurgencies is cured, but will that ever happen.Now am I afraid to go to the village because of all this, of course not but I do so full well knowing the risks I take and readers who are going to be new to the Philippines, also need to know the risks they may take while visiting some of these places within the Philippines where insurgency seems to be strong.Now all this is just my opinion based on personal observations, and each and everyone should think for themselves, but with their eyes wide open.Last, do I blame the NPA for what they are doing, it is not for me to judge or interfere with how things are done here since I am an outsider, I just hope they do not just take the word of one person when they decide to kill someone and that if they decide to execute someone, that they know that someone is actually guilty of the crimes that they think they are and that those crimes are ones that warrant death and not minor offenses.

I guess one man's vigilante is another man's murderer or terrorist. Judge, jury, and executioner sounds an awful lot like what the vigilantes do too. As with all extrajudicial killings, the government needs to step up their efforts to eliminate them and get the rule of law in place. Without the rule of law, the people with the most guns decide who is right and who is wrong....and that's not a very good method of determining things.