Satomi O.

Nakano International Political Economy

AB Foreign Service 302 Sir. Jumel G. Estrañero

“Rwadan Genocide history and its implication to the security of the Philippines”

Years ago, one of the worst and terrible genocide in the history of mankind took
place in Rwanda where millions of people, especially people who were labeled as Tutsis
were brutally killed by Interahamwe, a Hutu paramilitary organization. The true to life
story film entitled “Hotel Rwanda”, showed the greatness of a man who sacrificed and did
his best to save not just himself and his family but also other Tutsis and Hutus who were
then in danger. His name is Paul Rusesabagina, who was the manager of Hôtel des Mille
Collines. He had a lot of connections to political officers and was committed to his career.
However, as the political situation in Rwanda worsens especially after the assassination of
the president where Interahamwe decided to “cut all the tall trees” referring on killing
almost all Tutsis who they believed were cockroaches and threats to their nation and state’s
security. In this genocide, he showed that safety of the family should be the priority rather
than career. He breaks off rules and even bargained with corrupt official in exchange for his
family and other peoples’ lives. He was not just a great and loving father and a husband,
but also a hero to all the victims.

Aside from the main character himself, there were several people who were also
worth of respect such as Canadian Colonel Oliver of UN peacekeeping forces where he also
did his best to protect and save all victims especially people in the hotel but wasn’t able to
fully execute his will because they were forbidden to intervene in the conflict and prevent
the genocide in Rwanda. The only order for them was to evacuate all foreign nationals in
that area and leave the Rwandans for their own country’s dilemma. However, at the end of
the film, he never lost his contact with Paul and at the end, succeeded in saving victims
against Interahamwe. He was the symbol of equality. He showed respect and concerns for
people no matter what races and culture people have. He wasn’t a corrupt officer like
General Augustin Bizimungu who had just worked for reward and rank. He was a brave
officer who used his power for the common good even he knew that his decision was
dangerous. Unlike the other military, who were cold hearted, he had his conscience and
guilt that pushed him to do something for the victims to survive. Another important role
was the role of Pat Archer, where she symbolized hope for new generation.
She eagerly saved children from orphanages that were already targeted by Hutus to even
kill young Tutsis children.

This circumstance can be very traumatic if the state has no security within and
outside its territory. Security affects the state politically and economically because without
security there will be chaos and people will lost the value of unity. Corruptions,
mismanagement, favoring or making laws not for the common good but for themselves
were some of the examples of a country lacking political security. A state should have
military readiness, homeland defense and protecting its interest inside and outside its state.
However, these are not just the necessities of state to become fully secured country.
Without security, the economic growth of a state will be in unstable position where because
of corrupt officials, the economy won’t grow as it should be, there will be debts and
investments will fades because no states would want to have connections with a state that
has a lot of problems and no stable security.

Just like the Philippines in its state now, in the new administration headed by
President Duterte, he is abolishing all corrupt officials and declaring war against insurgents
to have peace and secure its security. He is also negotiating and inviting a lot of investors to
invest in the Philippines for the development of its economy. Although we can already see
progress, we know that Philippines has still have long way to go to be able to compete with
other states such as although Philippines and China have good agreement policy to the
development of the state, China is still slowly invading our territory in which Philippines
can’t do anything but to negotiate and build relationship with China. This is a threat that
one day, China might suddenly invade half part of Philippines or other state might control
Philippines someday again. These might happen when there is no security in the state and
these will not be achieved without people uniting as one nation. Politicians should think
about the benefits for its nation, economist should develop the economy of the state and
citizen of the Philippines should not just depend on the officers but should also act as one
of them because a state that has good leaders but lack of followers will turned out to be a
waste. It won’t work without the unity of a certain places.

As security is important to the state, and it will be achieved through unity, in my

humble opinion, peace should come first before development because with peace,
everything will be smoother including the development of a state. With the unity,
acceptance and respect to each other, people can work together to achieve development in
its state. Although through development, it can attain peace, I think it will be hard and
spend a lot of time before the desired peace will achieve. Just look at the scenario where
there are war and conflicts in a certain area. People hating each other, turning down each
other, competing with themselves, do you think development is possible in these kinds of
situations? Maybe, but fully or it will take a lot of time to achieve development because
without peace, there will be no development.

To avoid such tragic or catastrophic incident like in the film in the Philippines, first,
Filipino must respect and accept each other’s race, culture and religion. Second, politicians
should address the problem of state and should be devoted to serve public not himself, as he
was elected as the representative of people who will guide them for peace and development.
Third, we should strengthen out our national security against terrorists and possible
invasion of foreign countries. Forth, as a citizen, he or she must have self-discipline to
participate in the betterment of the state. Fifth, banning of guns and other deadly weapon
like in Japan to avoid traumatic incident and instead, teach people starting from the young
age to self defense and attack when necessary. Lastly, unity and harmony. We should treat
ourselves as sisters and brothers, help each other and avoid hatred just like how Paul
Rusesabagina showed in the film. A hero that is worth praising for.