EDITORIAL – The pots calling the kettle black are in the cupboard hidden

Former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano finally appeared before Congress, five of whose committees are conducting an investigation into wiretapped recordings allegedly between him and President Arroyo which some quarters are insisting prove electoral fraud in the 2004 polls.

As expected, congressmen, mostly from the opposition, feasted on Garcillano, peppering him with questions the bulk of which he refused to answer, especially those that pertained directly to the recordings.

But lest we be distracted by the proceedings, and the circus-like atmosphere that is surely to descend upon it, let us focus right at the outset at what we expect the hearings to provide us in the end.

Just as the opposition claims, and probably like what most Filipinos anticipate, we all hope the truth will emerge from all of this. But that is what we hope. The gut feeling is, on the other hand, the exact opposite.

For all intents and purposes, the hearing will never succeed in ferreting out the truth. That is because there is so much hypocrisy among those involved. The accusers of Garcillano have the upper hand because they are the accusers. But it could just as well be the other way around.

For the sake of his own neck, Garcillano will never tell the whole truth. His accusers, or at least his interrogators, are not any better off. They just happen to be on the favored side for now.

Yet we cannot, for our own self-respect, swallow the notion that there is not one among the many hecklers of Garcillano who is not as far down the creek as he is, only that they have not been exposed.

That is the way it is. The pots are all calling the kettle black. Luckily for the pots, they are all in the cupboard all hidden from view. What you do not see cannot be described aptly. But you know because once you've seen one, you've seen it all.

This whole thing may spell doom for Garcillano. It may even spell doom for the president, provided certain unfortunate conditions obtain. But as to the search for truth, forget it. Truth never thrives in so much hypocrisy.