WHAT was said about Vietnam during its war years — "here is a graveyard of lost hopes" — would be an apt reference for the province of Maguindanao during the onslaught of "Paeng" — and many other events before that. Death and dying, caused by the cruelty of men and nature's wrath, double-whammy as a curse, seem to visit the place often. Even from faraway Central Luzon, one cannot maintain a sense of detachment from the multiple misfortunes of the place. As floodwaters from Paeng rushed in torrents to wash away settlements with the full force of hydrology and bury panicking residents in tons of mud and upland debris (in towns named after noblemen and datus at that), you are too paralyzed to say your "thoughts and prayers" are with the people of Maguindanao.