No, and never again!

Ric Maulion

IT was a movie like no other (for me), starring Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan. The plot started when Owen and his family — wife and two daughters Lucy and Beegz in tow — and Brosnan were on their way to Cambodia to attend the inauguration of a waterworks project. The project on loan was bankrolled by Brosnan for Cambodians. Owen plays an engineer whose special discovery of a valve would be tested in the project.

The inauguration unfortunately was stalled when mayhem erupted between authorities and the people who were against the project. Brosnan, representing a Multiglobal Corp., would later acknowledge paying the price for ramming down the throat of the community that prohibitive project, exploiting their gullibility for handsome dividends in return, all gains for the corporation but licking the economy of the receiving country clean and dry.

It was an action-packed movie the likes of Liam Neeson’s Taken installments, a far cry from his tandem with Jacky Chan in “The Foreigner.”

In “No Escape,” the Cambodians didn’t show mercy, attacking and killing foreigners in sight. This forced Owens and his family to climb the rooftop for cover. Hell would soon break loose as the rampaging Cambodians would pepper them with gunshots from helicopters misconstrued as an ally. The thrilling scene was highlighted with Owens throwing first his wife over the second building, catching later his two daughters thrown one at a time before jumping himself as last ditch effort to freedom. They managed to reach the US Embassy but to no avail. Owen and his family would soon learn that the Cambodians captured that US stronghold earlier with American bodies littering all over the premises. Fortunately with the lift extended by Brosnan, Owen and family saw the daylight of freedom when they crossed the border of Vietnam through a motorboat. End.

I know you can relate with the plot of this movie. With people organized and cohesive, capitalists could be driven away and government can be established to run its own new economy. We had done just that during the Edsa 1986 Revolt. Fortunately, the military was with us then, proving how important their role in preserving democracy. We were unfortunate when government played deaf and dumb against nationalist outpourings by people over different projects. They were summarily killed instead.

The Jabiddah massacre, Hacienda Luisita massacre, Mendiola Massacre, Kidapawans’ farmers’ killings on top of the Maguindanao massacre case. Add the still ongoing “war on drugs” fatalities. Do you wonder why Duterte has been moving heaven and earth, dishing out his laum ayaw salig salary increase pay for the police and military? It’s a given to back up his dictatorial crusade against the people, including the innocents. But I still believe in the military’s integrity and moral persuasion to protect and secure democracy.

It was indeed hard-earned. But they did it in Edsa. We have already learned our lesson from the past. The military is not yet about to throw away the wisdom earned from that journey. No, and never again!