Moving forward

There is a time and a season for everything. And a time to move forward.

You just know it — you’re like a spinning tire stuck in the mud, fast and furious but going everywhere but forward. Or a hanky in the middle of a whirlpool, spinning, spinning.

Sometimes, it is self-righteous anger that keeps us stationary even when in motion. Or fear of the unknown. Or a desire to inflict hurt and shame that makes drawing first blood never enough. Sometimes, it is anger, even justifiable anger, which keeps us anchored in sticky bitterness.

Whatever the reason, there is a time to get out of the quagmire of hate, hurt, and anger — and move forward.

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I think we have dwelt PUBLICLY on the Mamasapano tragedy long enough. Privately, who is to say how long the grieving will take, for losing a beloved is a deep, gaping wound?

But publicly, the ruckus, the hue and the cry and the clamor for more than a pound of flesh has gone on too long. Alas, too long.

As Speaker Sonny Belmonte has said, it is time “to move on.”

For those who believe President Aquino is “ultimately responsible,” and should be held legally accountable, now is the time to meet with legal eagles. Now is the time for legal aid and advocacy groups to help further not just the widows and orphans of the SAF 44 but also others who lost their lives in the name of duty and country.

The drama played out in public hearings and the media should now enter a denouement. I wonder, how much of the indignation is inspired by justice, and how much, by the elections of 2016? Let’s not ride on the grief of Mamasapano, and squeeze it for soundbytes and column inches in pursuit — not of truth — but of public exposure. The time for the fire and brimstone is over. The healing should begin, even if the forgiving will take much, much longer.

Former five-team Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. says the country has “no alternative” but to move on.

“We are being stalled, we are being stymied, we are being derailed. There is so little time left. For all intents and purposes, though not officially, campaigning for 2016 will begin in October, when the filing of candidacy begins,” JDV notes. He believes that it will help to assuage the hurt feelings of the aggrieved if the unconstitutional provisions in the draft BBL law are removed.

For her part, Pangasinan Rep. Gina de Venecia believes that what the people need right now is “closure.”

“My personal opinion after talking to the masses is that P-Noy should say something between ‘I am seeking your ‘deepest understanding,’ and ‘I am sorry’,” she adds.

This is what President Aquino said before the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) graduates last week: “I am aware of this: that no words will suffice to explain the deaths of our brave policemen. A report or a speech can never reflect the entirety of what is felt by a parent who lost a good child. All I can do, after saying all that must be said, and after doing all that must be done, is to ask for your deep understanding.

“Regardless of my anger for the disregard for the orders I gave, regardless of my regret for trusting people who concealed the truth from me, I can never erase the fact: 44 members of our police force are dead. And this happened under my term. Let me stress it: I will bear this basic truth with me to my grave.”

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Personally, I feel the tragedy was avoidable. But it was due to a tactical error on the ground, not a major decision from the top. Letting a suspended expert on the Marwan case take part in the operations was a judgment call for which Mr. Aquino is paying heavily now. But if Alan Purisima’s expertise resulted in the success of the operation without the heartbreaking deaths of the 44 SAF men — President Aquino would have been walking on rose petals now instead of on banana peels. And no one would have given a damn if Purisima were suspended or not. Purisima could have made it work, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to.

We have all said our pieces. From the cab driver to the most erudite of solons.

Press freedom has given everyone space and airtime.

Every day, we lose our gallant men and women in the fields of war and on the streets of concrete in order that we, civilians, can live in peace. The incessant playing out in public of the Mamasapano debacle isn’t helping win the peace — political and economic — that will enable all of us, especially the bereaved, to have better lives. And move forward.

A better life is always the best revenge against those who wish us the opposite.

PeopleAsia’s special commemorative issue on Pope Francis’ visit. Due to a clamor from our readers, and in the spirit of Holy Week, PeopleAsia is making a few more copies of the issue available. Call Bong or Flor at 892-1854 or 0922-8776557.

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Kris Aquino has posted on social media a line that goes something like, “They tried to bury us. But they forgot that we are seeds.”

The closely-knit children of Ninoy and Cory Aquino are suffering because of the aftermath of the Mamasapano tragedy. It is the worst crisis to have hit Noynoy Aquino’s presidency. But they know it is part of the price they have to pay for the privilege of public service.

They have been through much worse, says Ballsy Cruz. Martial law, the trial before the military tribunal that sentenced their father to death, the solitary imprisonment in Laur, Ninoy’s assassination, the seven coup attempts during the presidency of Cory. The Aquinos have been strengthened by trials, of which they have had more than a fair share.

Like seeds, they know they will again take root in suffering, and survive.

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Last Sunday, Palm Sunday, reminds all of us that glory is fleeting — and that the Hosannas thrown at your feet today can be replaced by jeers tomorrow. Five days after His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus Christ was crucified in the same city.

The people cheering us on our way to the top could disappear once we’re on the road to Calvary.

But we can always take comfort in the knowledge that there are people, though few, who will stick with us and stay with us in the foot of our crosses. Our mother. Family. Friends.

They make the road to Calvary worth it, and the Easter Sundays of our lives a time to rejoice, indeed. (You may e-mail me at [email protected].)