Pimentel and Tatad in the same waltz?

Among the many personalities discernibly helping stoke the fires of discontent in the latest political brouhaha involving President Arroyo are two that a growing number of people find particularly obnoxious. They are Senator Aquilino Pimentel and former senator Francisco Tatad.

Pimentel used to be a highly credible oppositionist, at a time when to be in the opposition meant one was possessed with both the highest principles and the courage to pursue those principles, even if it meant sacrificing liberty, or even life.

Pimentel used to be such a man, which is why, to a certain extent, he was once up there in that illustrious company of Ninoy Aquino, Lorenzo Tañada, Jose Diokno, etc., people who stood up for civil rights at a time when it was almost unwise, and certainly dangerous, to do so.

It was at the height of the Marcos dictatorship, with a military establishment running amuck in its eagerness to please Marcos and carry out his every wish. Pimentel need not be reminded of this. He knows the story very well.

Pimentel was mayor of Cagayan de Oro when stripped of his post by Marcos. From there, it did not take him long to find his way to Cebu, a.k.a. opposition country, and find good company in local opposition leaders.

People like Tony Cuenco, Inday Nita Daluz, Billy Legaspi, Dodong Holganza, George Baladjay and others were giving Marcos a headache with their rallies and freedom marches. They were joined by imports like Cesar Climaco of Zamboanga, Orlando Fua of Siquijor, and Pimentel.

Cebu was such a hotbed of the opposition that anybody who had anything in his or her breast to say against Marcos but could not say it anywhere would eventually come to Cebu to say it. That is why people from Luzon like Doy Laurel and Eva Estrada Kalaw made Cebu their pulpit.

But the rallies and marches became so pesky for the dictator that eventually the military was called in to throw all of them in the stockade. But of course, Marcos could not have his way for long in Cebu and was forced to set the opposition leaders free.

At about the same time opposition leaders like Pimentel were being harassed, the people of Marcos were having the time of their lives. People like Joseph Estrada and Francisco Tatad became demigods, the dictatorship ensuring their every word or deed is accepted without question.

Estrada was mayor of San Juan, becoming one of the closest allies of Marcos. Tatad was information minister of the dictator. As history would later bear out, the things they learned in a dictatorship would define the transformation of their characters.

That Estrada was eventually ousted and charged with plunder says a lot about his learning experiences with Marcos. Tales of mistresses and mansions were a throwback to those martial law days when to be in power really meant being in power.

Indeed, those times gave birth to one of the most repugnant phrases ever coined to characterize the ability of a human being to make use and take advantage of a situation in which he or she has absolute power. Remember the phrase "what are we in power for? "

Well, Estrada has had his come-uppance although we do not believe we have seen the last of the unrepentant fallen leader. Indeed, we do not believe he does not have a hand, or a stake, in what is going on.

By the same token, the Time magazine article that forced Tatad to admit he was the source of the tapes that did Arroyo in, merely reinforced long-held suspicions that somehow, someway, dirty tricks that are a throwback to the Marcos days were at play here.

And so indeed, that when Tatad owned up the tapes, everything fell into place. How could it be anyone else but the former information minister of Marcos, the propaganda chief of the martial law years.

Now, what is the point we are trying to make? The point is that look at who are in the opposition. A bedlam of the strangest bedfellows imaginable - Pimentel in the company of Tatad and Estrada, all mouthing moral principles as if everyone else is a reject even in Hell.