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Call to End the Extrajudicial Killings
By Julius "Sniper" Naypa

First of all we are thankful that we are given the opportunity to voice out our feelings of hurt as members of B.M. 29¹ who have been thought of by many as trash of the society.

It is very painful for us to hear that one of our gang members who was freed from jail has been salvaged² because of breaking the law. For me, I then ask myself why is it that one is not brought to the courts of justice where proper sentence could be given to him/her if it could be proven then that such person has committed a crime.

I am also requesting the whole community that if we get out of prison after serving our jail sentences, which have been given to us because of the crime we have committed, that you would not look down on us. That is one of the reasons why many of us commit crimes again because no one would receive us in a compassionate way; instead you still look at us as criminals.

It is not all the time that people like us are bad. We also dream of changing the ways we live. Of the thousands of jail inmates I know, only a few do not wish changes in their lives when they would be freed. Hopefully you would help us in walking to the right path because we are not animals that you may just kill or butcher--we are also human beings who have feelings that can feel pain and are hurt.

Think about this my brothers and sisters, only one created us. Only one God has the right to take our lives. Only God has the power to judge our lives.

Many thanks and God be with us and bless you all. This is where I will end and "thousands of thanks" for the attention you have given.

1 B.M. is the abbreviation for Batang Mindanao.
B.M.29 is the biggest jail-based gang in Cagayan de Oro City.

2 Salvaged is the term used to describe extra-judicial killings.

Visayan Version