It was the least President B. S. Aquino 3rd could do, even if it seemed too little too late – to declare a day of national mourning for all the members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) who perished in the Maguindanao massacre in the hands of the Muslim Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) last weekend. It came one day after the National Transformation Council called for a period of nationwide mourning – and prayers – for the victims and their bereaved kin. But apart from this, Aquino’s short TV address on the tragedy on Wednesday evening merely fueled the people’s anger across the nation.

Indeed, Filipinos are angry and their anger is mounting. It’s all over the social media, in the coffee houses, schools, factories, board rooms, and everywhere else. On Wednesday, I was in Cebu City where the Cebu Daily News bannered the story, “2 Cebuanos die with boots on.” There I saw a group literally hooting down Aquino as they listened to his speech that evening. I heard the same reaction from various groups in the city the next day.

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