What about them?

CHEERS TO the Manila Bulletin for raising a timely question amid war talks in some parts of Mindanao: What about the Maguindanao children?

“We have been the collateral damage in years of conflicts, the last being the bloody clash between police commandos and combatants of the MILF and BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters). Please don’t allow the Mamasapano incident to hold hostage the Mindanao peace process,” a statement hand-written and signed by dozens of “children of war” said, according to the Feb. 10 report (“Maguindanao children ask: ‘What about us?’”)

Hundreds of Maguindanaoan children, including those affected by the Mamasapano clash, signed the statement. The lone copy of the said statement, which was written on ruled yellow paper, was given to the Bulletin at the end of the 4th Sagayan Festival in Buluan, Maguindanao.

The displaced children want peace not only to avoid further loss of lives, but also to achieve some improvement in the lives of the people in the poverty-stricken province, according to the Bulletin.