The final 10 of 16 soldiers convicted in connection with the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983 have stepped out of prison, granted executive clemency by President Arroyo. The other six either have died or were freed earlier.
Having served 26 years since their conviction, with most of them already ailing, it is easy for the Arroyo administration to invoke both lawful reprieve and humanitarian reasons as the backbone upon which the decision to extend clemency was arrived at.
But careful observers of the way Philippine politics is played cannot also be ignored or dismissed if they insist that Arroyo is not beyond playing a little spiting game against those whom she perceives to be her real enemies.
The reaction of the Aquinos is understandable. They lost a beloved family member, and that is not an easy cross to bear. But even the Aquinos are not grieving on the same measure. While the immediate family stays rooted in the crime, the siblings prefer to move on.
Whether the Aquinos admit it or not, even their grief is not secure from the intrusion of politics. To a certain extent, the reaction to the clemency has political aftertastes too strong to just brush aside.
Believe it or not, a dead Aquino, even nearly three decades after his brutal murder, is a much more potent political force than if he simply were allowed to live his life naturally. He may or may not have been elected president. But then, so what?
The only former president who has died after Aquino was killed was Marcos himself, whom Aquino’s widow Cory blames directly for the dastardly deed. The other former presidents, including Cory herself, are very much alive and around. Again, so what?
All that these former presidents seem to have seen worthwhile in doing is to meddle in the politics of the present. Without exception, Cory, Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada are all still politically active, though from the sidelines.
They all seem to forget that they all had their chances, and either they did not fully make it or they utterly failed. And if they think otherwise, try reminding them of the rut we are all in.
This is not meant as a sign of disrespect, but even Cory must have realized how politically valuable the martyrdom of her husband Ninoy is than to consider the what ifs had he lived and served to be president, even if, bless her, that is the way she would have wanted it.
Yet, stripped of all political value, Ninoy was just another man murdered in a country that has no qualms about murder. To ordinary citizens, it is better to pick up the pieces and move on.
Nothing is served anymore by keeping the soldiers held responsible for the murder any longer other than the satisfaction of vengeance. But even vengeance brings no dead men back. Taken in this light, no real justice is served except the one true justice of God.
To be sure, not all of the 16 soldiers convicted are truly guilty of the crime. They were all convicted as a herd, on facts and evidences that will never be perfect. Conspiracy is sometimes the most unjustly punishable act that man has ever chosen to punish.
In the meantime, the mastermind of the murder has never been brought to account for the crime in accordance with human justice. Living or dead, the mastermind is best left to the ultimate wisdom of divine justice.
Let us not be carried away by anger and the weeping, no matter how justified. Think instead of the thousands of other lives left shattered by other murders, but which we quickly moved away from for the simple reason that they were nameless, and thus never had a chance.