'Public humiliation'

We have written about our topic today in the past but the recent turn of events regarding high profile and prominent personalities has once again put into question the propriety of subjecting people to public humiliation like for instance, the ignominy that former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo must be experiencing that began with the NAIA hullaballoo, followed by the issuance of an arrest warrant for her. One can just imagine what a woman like GMA, daughter of a former president and practically born into power, may have felt when she was “booked” and fingerprinted by the NBI, followed by copies of her alleged mug shots circulating on Facebook, television and all over the Internet. Even those intensely critical of the former president and want her held accountable for alleged past misdeeds feel uneasy at the thought of her being pilloried and subjected to shame in a manner one would not really wish on anyone.

We Filipinos are basically onion skinned and put a lot of premium on maintaining “amor propio” or the sense of self-respect, taking care to avoid being subjected to anything that would cause shame or embarrassment. To put one’s self in the mercy of others is probably the last thing anyone of Latino temperament — Filipinos included on account of our Spanish colonial heritage — would want to do, specially so if you are in the limelight.

We got hold of a letter written by businessman Bobby Ongpin to Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that is conducting an investigation on the DBP loans issue. In his letter, Ongpin is practically beseeching the Senator to resume the hearings anytime after January 8 next year when he would be in the country and thus have the opportunity to respond to questions regarding the controversial loans.

Apparently, RVO (as Ongpin is referred to by colleagues) learned that the hearing originally slated for November 29 has been inexplicably reset for December 6 — putting the former trade minister in a difficult situation that can only be described as a choice between the “devil and the deep blue sea.” As it turns out, the 74-year-old businessman’s first grandchild was born just two weeks ago in London, which is why he and his Chilean wife of 50 years have no choice but to celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary (a once-in-a-lifetime occasion that not too many married couples get a chance to achieve) in the British capital on December 8.

Aside from the fact that Mrs. Ongpin’s birthday also falls in December and Bobby Ongpin will be celebrating his 75th birthday on January 6, his wife’s relatives have long ago apparently purchased airline tickets and booked their hotels for the couple’s Golden Wedding Anniversary. “For this reason, my plan is to return to Manila, leaving Europe on January 7 to be here on January 8,” Ongpin wrote, apologizing for the unusual confluence of events and appealing to the Blue Ribbon Committee to consider his circumstances. “I make this earnest appeal for your kind consideration because I really want to be present at the next hearing and be available to explain fully and directly any question that your committee might have,” the businessman entreated.

We were told, however, that one senator is zeroing in on the “insider trading” angle, aware that the earlier accusations harping on the behest loan slant is rather weak. After going over Ongpin’s letter, one can’t help but think that someone may have deliberately pushed for the resetting of the Nov. 29 date precisely to put Ongpin in an untenable situation. The senators in our country are kings in their own kingdom, considered as very powerful especially during hearings and investigations where they can take on the role of inquisitor, prosecutor and judge. We are all aware that senators can say almost anything they want — bordering sometimes on slanderous statements under the cloak of parliamentary immunity.

Too many times, the kind of questioning that “resource persons” (a euphemism if there ever was one) get subjected to can be very harsh, stressful and very often embarrassing. This is the reason why veteran human rights lawyer and senator Joker Arroyo has been extremely vocal about the need to review the practice of publicly grilling individuals who have not even been charged formally and yet are compelled to participate in a Senate hearing where they can be inadvertently prejudged, and portrayed as guilty if they fail to attend or worse, get thrown in detention.

No doubt this is something that Ongpin wishes to avoid — the very reason why he is so eager to be present for the next hearing — except that this unfortunate “confluence” as he so aptly put it could make that highly improbable. If there’s one thing that Filipinos are sensitive about (or “onion skinned” as most of us are), it’s the thought of their name being dragged through the mud by mere dint of innuendo and allegation, more so if their loved ones get thrown into the fray.

Public humiliation is probably one of the worst things that could happen to anybody, driving some to even commit murder. The worst however is when one is subjected to such public shame or disgrace that it can actually drive one to commit suicide. Such was the case with former AFP Chief of Staff and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes — who killed himself in broad daylight at his mother’s grave when he could no longer endure the stinging Senate humiliation he suffered from a former subordinate, now senator — who told him to shut up in pleno publico — silencing him forever.

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