Salamat Brutus! Ang galing mo palang mag-Ingles. Nakakainggit! Hahaha!
Let me pause here for a while but this remaining part of the entry is not in the original draft as I’ve intended to go straight through in the discussions. I have to cut things down and insert some thoughts that have bothered me since I first learned of the news, which personally I haven’t thought of to happen since the person involved as I believed was in his studies abroad to complete his PhD in physics. It was just on December 2 this year that I’ve known of the news that took place last October 2, 2013. At first I could not believe it as it was posted at
http://www.agham.org/cms/content/free-kim-gargar
I was still under the expectation that the said person was still abroad for his PhD and I could only gain access to the internet in rare occassions to have been updated immediately of any incident that the main stream media would no longer pay attention to.
I may no longer mention the name of the person here as you may know it at the webpage I’ve just quoted.
So, according to AGHAM, he was being detained at the Mati jail after being caught in a crossfire between the NPA and the government soldiers. The military accused the said person as being a member of the New People’s Army and such accusation really shocking as somewhat ridiculous!
As to the reasons and circumstances why he was in the area, you may refer to that AGHAM entry. Contrary to what the military maintained about him that he was an NPA, actually he was part of a humanitarian and fact finding mission for the Pablo devastated areas as early as April this year. Last October when he was caught in crossfire, he was doing a field work for a research project in areas mutilated by that monster storm until the time the encounter happened and he was caught some kilometers away from the actual encounter site. As usual habit of the AFP, anything crawling, walking and injured in the vicinity is to be indentified as an enemy, a habit they already acquired time immemorial and practiced. Ofcourse, this practice is in great violation of the internationa humanitarian laws of war with provisions afforded to civilians caught in the crossfire!
As a personal note that person and I were once close associates in a physics research group that we tried to organize in the only state college in Cagayan de Oro. That time he was teaching college physics and had already earned a master’s degree at the University of the Philippines. He then decided to continue his career in Manila as he was aspiring then to obtain a PhD whether from U.P. or abroad. We continued our correspondence through emails and kept updates via the blogs and websites we’ve set-up. After a few years since we departed ways, I learned that he was already studying in the Netherlands, realizing his personal ambition to get atleast a doctoral degree. Because our internet connection at home wasn’t regularly maintained, our correspondence became so rare as it was only when I could find time accessing the internet outside. Though not regularly, we could still communicate and have updates on our researches. There was even one time back in 2012, if I’m not mistaken recalling the year, he bragged to me that he had a paper published in an internation publication. So if my recollection is not blurred, in 2012 he was still in the Netherlands, greatly disputing the military’s claim that he joined the NPA in 2012!
The person I am referrring to here is a smart physicist and a good scientist, dwelling in a new area where physics and biology merge. “Smart” and “good”, traits I may honestly attribute to him as far as I can remember the times when we struggled to form a research group. Way back then we had this advocacy or belief that though official and diploma’d education might have great advantages but it was not ultimately necessary for a person to gain knowledge. We believed in free education especially physics for the sons and daughters of the masses who could not afford to send their children to prestigious schools. Because he was at a masteral level he understood it clearly the very poor state of physics research in the Philippines and the need for a Nationalist Industrialization to absorb the growing number of unemployed or misemployed physics graduates as well as to combat the so-called brain-drain. He still continued the advocacy when he left for Manila.
So, FREE PROFESSOR K. G. !
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