THE Philippines joins the international community in extending its sympathies to the families of the passengers on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that crashed in Ukraine on Thursday, July 17.
“At this difficult time, we stand with them in solidarity as one people and one country,” Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte. The Philippine government is extending repatriation assistance to the families of the three identified Filipino victims who were included in the plane crash.
Details of the apparent downing of the Malaysian passenger aircraft highlights how the world is at a critical juncture following the untimely demise 298 innocent people.
Members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council immediately convened an emergency meeting to denounce the tragedy and stress the need to end fighting in Ukraine.
“This horrifying incident serves as the starkest reminder of how dire the situation in eastern Ukraine has become—and how it affects countries and families well beyond Ukraine’s borders,” said UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman.
Indeed, the world is witnessing how terrorism and genocide still cripples some parts of the globe.
The world calls for justice, an accountability to the lives lost because of extremely unstable political and security situations.
The world calls for peace. This is the moment where every nation and every citizen take a stand. We are all called to become a modern and civil society, to bring an all out war against terrorism and fight for peace.
Like any war, the battle against terrorism is going to be a long struggle in which ideological, political, and socioeconomic agenda will be as important as military campaigns.
Citizens of the world are keeping their fingers crossed, waiting to see how the next events will unfold in today’s daunting security challenges.
On the surface, the situation looks grim and it is certainly not the best time for any leader to be in charge. It will take more initiatives to accomplish such an ambitious undertaking.
Restoring peace is not as available as the ones you’d normally find inside the pages of self-help books. In this ever-changing and turbulent world, it’s easier to commit mistakes, to aggregate power, for war to be instigated.
It can only only be attained when there is cultural integrity, respect for differences, protection of human rights, good governance, absence of war and sustainable development.
The list may still go on, and these measures will require more than just valiant efforts from national governments and its people. History will tell you that it took hundreds of wars, thousands of years and millions of lives for a peaceful era to arise.
The task is no doubt high. But the tendency to restore the world’s standing as a citadel of peace should be worth all the risk and the effort. (AJPress)
