Still at it

Whether the issue is extrajudicial killings or how to celebrate EDSA, as far as critics are concerned, President GMA cannot do right. That’s the story. Couple that with a generally adversarial media (mostly oligarch owned) and passive readers, you have the perfect stew for incoherence. The enemies of the state are still at it, dividing the country and making sure we do not succeed.

The Communist agenda and its chairman, Jose Maria Sison, is not shy about their aim to seize power from government and install the CPP in its stead. Towards that end, anyone and anything is fair game, even extrajudicial killings for propaganda mileage. This is not to say that some soldiers are not guilty. They could be, but in a democratic society the justice system requires courts of law to conduct a trial with the rules of evidence before an accused is convicted. They are innocent until proven guilty and that goes for both the victims and the accused. It is incumbent on the government therefore to ensure that both have their day in court.

It has been reported the victims do not wish to come forward or participate in investigations. This is work cut out for human rights groups if their concern is justice. They should encourage them to come forward and name names. We are told by Karapatan, a known Communist front that there have been more than 783 killings 336 of them of activists since President GMA came into power in 2001. The figure has been denied by the Alston and Melo reports as an exaggeration and more in the region of 200 or so. But they added, quite rightly, that it is not a question of numbers, an extrajudicial killing is an extrajudicial killing. What we should ask of Karapatan is to specify the other 347 victims which they claim have been killed but not included in their list of activists?

Media reports are second hand facts and figures dished out by groups like Karapatan or even Amnesty International or the UN. As Washington Post’s Bob Woodward said the tragedy of the Iraqi war could have been avoided if journalists pursued partisan statements and reported from the ground instead of accepting what they are told.

Same with media reports on the killings. They are not based on investigation on the ground and gained first-hand with accuracy in mind but filed to meet deadlines. A figure of 783 is a large figure that cannot just be waved aside. Every single one of them needs to be identified if the thrust of our concern is the human rights of these victims and not just the 336 leftist activists that Karapatan has owned. The figure was then repeated around the world through their network of Communist fronts, media sympathizers and other NGOs designed to create suspicion and ill-feeling against the military, and ultimately to weaken the Arroyo government.

The Communist party and its satellite organizations have chosen a convenient time with elections just around the corner. The accusations seem more intent to demonize President GMA’s image than to give justice to the victims. Unfortunately, the Communist Party can call on an international infrastructure of leftist organizations and media sympathizers in support of its agenda.

I attended only two EDSA 1 celebrations, the first one in 1987 when my family and I had just returned from a 20-year exile and this year’s 21st anniversary celebration as a member of EDSA People Power Commission (EPPC) chaired by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita. In 1987, it was not possible to get close to the stage which overflowed with balimbings, hangers-on and Manila’s inevitable elite. Some of those who were there Cory herself said were too afraid to be seen with Ninoy or her in public during the struggle. But there they were — unashamedly clustered together as the Yellow Crowd — pushing and jostling to occupy every inch of space so hard-won by thousands who were not there.

I returned to the celebration of its 21st anniversary this year as a member of the Edsa People Power Commission (EPPC). In the small crowd which gathered there I related most to former Sen. Heherson Alvarez, his wife, Cecile and the indefatigable Charito Planas, who like my husband and I were activist-patriots in exile during the Marcos years.

Thank God, only a few of the Yellow Crowd of 1987 showed up that morning. Altogether, it was a more solemn event with just a few symbolic touches, the ticker tape shower from helicopter flying over us, the Filipino flag made of red, blue and white balloons that was set free and the beautiful prayer written by EPPC colleague and STAR columnist, Alex Magno celebrating the theme of the day — Magkaisa para sa Bansa, Sama-Sama, Kayang-Kaya. The centerpiece was the awards to Gawad Kalinga, Pondong Pinoy, an OFW, and a posthumous award for the late Cardinal Sin.

To commemorate an event does not mean to do it all over again. Every event has a specificity belonging only to its time and place. Any other people power will have its own reason for being, not a mimic of the original. It would have been good if like former President FVR, Cory showed up in solidarity, if not with President GMA, then at least with the Filipino nation. She missed the chance to remind Filipinos that as the widow of the martyred hero she united Filipinos in 1986. Ninoy’s legacy and the EDSA People Power Revolution 1986 should be beyond politics. Cory may not have wanted to share the same stage with the President but Mrs. Arroyo is our president and in that capacity, a symbol of the nation.

My e-mail is cpedrosaster@gmail.com