Pangilinan: Voters should ensure next leaders shun policy of killing their citizens

Voters should ensure that the next leaders of the country would not kill fellow Filipinos, just like in the 1968 Jabidah massacre when at least 28 Moro fighters from Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi were killed in Corregidor Island, Senator and vice-presidential candidate Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said Friday.

He added that the killing of the Moros in the Jabidah Massacre was a tragic part of the national narrative that must never be forgotten.

"We revisit their sacrifices today in recognition of the suffering that they went through. We cannot undo the wrongdoing of the past, but we have the duty to ensure that this does not happen again," Pangilinan said in a statement on Friday - the 54th anniversary of the Jabidah massacre.

"Nakakalungkot na sumisigaw pa rin ng hustisya ang ating mga kababayan sa pangyayari. Habang hindi natin mapipilit ang paghingi ng kapatawaran mula sa mga duguan ang kamay, nasa atin ang pagsisiguro na ang mga taong ilalagay sa posisyon ay may pinakamataas na pagpapahalaga sa buhay at karapatan ng ating mga kababayan, anuman ang relihiyon, paniniwala, o lahi," Pangilinan added.

(It is sad that our fellow Filipinos are still seeking justice for the victims of the Jabidah massacre. While we cannot force the perpetrators of these crimes to apologize for what they did, we must ensure that we will elect leaders who value the life and the rights of our fellow Filipinos, regardless of religion, beliefs, or race.)

In closing, Pangilinan said that the government should never engage in the mass murder of its people.

"Hindi kailanman dapat maging polisiya ng pamahalaan ang mass murder, karahasan o digmaan," he added.

(It should never be government policy to commit mass murder, violence, and war.)

Two Muslim leaders, Bangsamoro parliament member Mohagher Iqbal and Basilan lawmaker Mujiv Hataman, earlier warned voters against a candidate who might bring back the suffering of the Bangsamoro people. — DVM, GMA News