Asia's first democracy in peril!

Dubai: Last Tuesday, the major national newspapers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carried that gruesome report of the political massacre in Maguindanao where supposedly 39 people were killed, some beheaded. The Gulf News came up with the banner headline, “Political Rivalry Linked to Philippine Massacre”, The National newspaper headlined “21 Filipinos Killed in Gruesome ‘Massacre’, while the Khaleej Times did not make this story its banner headlines, but still carried a front-page item entitled, “Gunmen kill 21 in Philippine Political War.”

I was taking my breakfast in my hotel the Al Morooj Rotana when Jhen-Jen my Filipina friend who works in the hotel gave me the newspapers and asked, “What’s happening in our country?” This question echoed the same question that the late Vice-President Emmanuel Pelaez asked the Police Chief in Manila after his assassination attempt during the Marcos years! Yet the same thing gets repeated over and over again, whether it’s corruption or political killings!

While I’m writing this column, Hala Gorani of CNN’s I-Desk was discussing this incident, declaring that this is the first time that so many journalists were killed on the same day on the same spot! Once more, thanks to ugly politicians who want to stay in power forever, the Philippines have edged out Iraq as the most dangerous country for journalists. The report by Aljazeera tv was by far the most complete and accurate, putting the death toll at 46 as of this writing.

While the tv reports said that Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) has vowed justice for the victims of this massacre, I would like to say that the President must not just do lip service on this issue but be pro-active in finding solutions to this heinous crime, especially that the dead included at least 20 journalists. I’m sure that Genalyn Tiamson-Mangudadatu and her supporters brought along those journalists so they could report that she officially filed her certificate of candidacy to challenge the reigning Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr. Just in case you already forgot, the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. also tagged along foreign journalists to “protect” him from any attempt on his life, but as we all know, that plan didn’t work!

If the Arroyo government wants to extricate itself from this mess (after all, the Ampatuans are her staunch supporters) she should have Gov. Ampatuan suspended or better slapped with criminal charges. While it may be considered circumstantial evidence, the fact remains that the killers who perpetrated this massacre was very brutal and killed with impunity. Another thing that the Arroyo Administration can do is to go into an all-out disarming of the armed groups roaming in Maguindanao. She can do this easily now that the Provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat has been placed on a state of emergency.

This gruesome massacre has no doubt tainted our democratic system, where the truth has shown that politicians when they are in power want so badly to keep their juicy positions even to the point of killing anyone who dares challenge their rule. Ugly politics no doubt has played a huge role in the stagnation of our country. Asia’s First Democracy is in peril!

We were already behind our ASEAN neighbors when we booted out the conjugal Marcos Dictatorship. But this present Constitution has unfortunately allowed politics to rear its ugly head, especially when we threw out the tried and tested two-party system. Look where it has brought our democratic process in this country? We need to learn from this tragedy and fix ourselves so we can move forward.

As Lewis Carroll (Through the Looking Glass) once said, “It takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.” Now you know why the Philippines is having a difficult time catching even with our ASEAN neighbors, as we never seem to fix our problems or run as fast as we should!

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It’s the 30th anniversary of the passing of my father Atty. Jesus “Lindong” Avila who had a stroke while on board a PAL flight from Hawaii back to Manila, just an hour before landing. He was brought to the Makati Medical Hospital and passed away after three days in a coma. My dad was highly-respected in the Theater Industry, counting amongst his friends, Remy and Mother Lily Monteverde, Ed Sazon and our fellow Star columnist Johnny Litton who used to run the Mever Films. He was also a Rotarian in the Mother Club, although there are a few Rotarians left who were his peers. I will never forget the happy days when our dad was still with us on this earth. Please pray for the repose of his soul.

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