If you wish for peace

 "Si vis pacem, para bellum." (If you wish for peace, prepare for war)
                                  - Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (De Re Militari)


During the Cold War, before the fall of the Soviet Union, the superpowers of the world were stockpiling nuclear weapons that were more than enough to destroy all the cities in the world. Not one of them, not a single warhead was ever used to attack anyone. Most of them are now gone - dismantled, destroyed. Billions of dollars and countless man-hours of research, manufacturing and operation were spent on them but none was ever used. Were those resources spent on nothing?


What would have happened it there were no nuclear weapons back then? Answer: World War III. The only thing that prevented each country from attacking another is the reality that the losing party will be forced to use its nuclear weapons. Once the first nuclear missiles are launched, retaliation is guaranteed and the result is what they call "assured mutual destruction". That's what kept the peace of the world.


The philosophy holds true even on a village level. On the areas around the Mal River (Dongan Pekong, Savoy, Saub, etc.), the victims of violent criminal attacks often were those who do not have the means to defend themselves or to capacity to exact vengeance against the offending parties. Fairness and sense of justice become liabilities -  law of the jungle reigns supreme. People are not concerened when a Bisaya is killed because those people are too good to exact vengeance - they prefer the rule of law. Often, they will just leave rather than face the possibility of having another member of the family become the next victim. It happened to that barangay official who was murdered this year while working on his field. His house at the center of the barangay is now abandoned. 


But when a B'laan dies, even if it was just for a natural cause, people all over the nearby community tremble in fear of an impending "pangayaw". Only a few ventures outside during the night. Whatever happens to pride? Can one just allow somebody intimidate or threaten him for no reason at all? Is your life so dear to you that you will just allow some ignorant and misguided individuals dictate how you spend your day or night? 


How can one address this issue? If you are living is such a community you can either:
    1. Leave it and find a more secured community.
    2. Swallow your pride and do what others are doing - cower in fear.
    3. Stand your ground and do what you think is right.


I choose the last.


I'm not a big fan of Ninoy Aquino (I still think Marcos is the better leader, and if I have to pick a hero, it will be and always be the intellectual Rizal). But there is one thing that Ninoy said that I cannot and will not forget: "I'd rather fall cold in the ground than stand with my bended knees". To me, limiting my nigh time activity around my farm just because some idiots want to have somebody to accompany their relative to the hereafter is like bending my knees and bowing down to their cowardly ignorance. 


Now, if the idea of "assured mutual destruction" worked for the Russians and the Americans, I think it could work for me and the people who might want to hurt me or the workers in the farm. If fear is the accepted currency of the place, I might as well try to exploit it to my advantage. Thus I realized that I need to invest on arms - the bigger the better. Not just  the "pangporma" kind that where some city folks used in competitive shooting. I need the kind that will make a group of bandits armed with long arms think twice before deciding to visit me. 


Assured mutual destruction. You can get me but I will surely be able to get at least one of you. Not a comforting thought to anybody who, for all we know, only wanted to scare me off or worse, just to have fun with one of my goats. 


All I want is to sleep peacefully in my farm during a weekend break - that's why there's a pistol under my pillow, an M4 with a night vision scope beside my bed and a 0.308 sniper rifle tucked somewhere else. That way, I don't have to count sheep (err, goats). :)


"The poignant wish for a tranquil life will find no sanctuary in today's world"
            - Ferdinand E. Marcos (Revolution from the Center)