Terrible truths

Roll Call: Mob Justice? Present. Cold Blood? Present. Gratuitous violence? Yes. Safeguards of the law disregarded? Without compunction.

Well, almost all the ingredients were accounted for at last Thursday’s Congressional hearing on the illegal drug trade a.k.a. the continuing saga of Leila’s colorful life. The only thing missing was the white hoods.

Make no mistake about it. It was a lynching. A lynching carried out in broad daylight, at the hands of our highest officials. And that is why it was awful to watch and much too terrible to bear.

With at least 50 lawyers in the room, all officers of the court, not a word was uttered in defense of privacy and in the name of decency. The much hyped video may not have been shown but what was presented was just as revolting.

We refer to a witness’ testimony on what he saw on a cellphone video that was read into the congressional record. Future generations will not be spared  engrossing reading on a Senator’s purported sex life immortalized. What will they think of next, in aid of legislation? Even for Congress, this was a new depth to sink to. The entertainment value was paltry compared to the incalculable toll on our basic humanity.

A group of legislators from the House of Representatives affixed their names to a draft resolution that would announce their objection to the video screening. How could they not when the Senate was unanimous in its own resolution against the screening? The decision to shelve the video rendered this draft resolution moot. We may never know who among our Congressmen signed. But they themselves will not forget. For those who had the chance but never took it, may you succeed in washing that stain from your soul.

Going back to hoods, I don’t know if the full frontal way in which it was done is not worse than the lynching itself. Both the active participant and the passive observer whose silence was equally damning are members of the Committee. Could situations like this be indicative of what Robert Kennedy referred to when he spoke of “the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay”?

The President’s Men.  Very few politicians. This, I believe, is the explanation for the refreshing aspect of the Duterte Cabinet. President Benigno Aquino III had 14 former government officials surrounding him, with nine of them members of Congress. For President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the number is 4 of 7.  Secretaries Leni Robredo, Mark Villar, Rafael Mariano and Silvestre Bello are all former Congressmen.

We continue with our “Manong’s List” of notable members of the Duterte administration based on their conduct these past 100 days. In this small window, we have been impressed by:

6 & 7. Secretaries Judy Taguiwalo of DSWD and Paulyn Rosell-Ubial of DOH. These social services offices are the least political of the departments. And their bosses had the moxie to prove it. Just this week, Sec. Taguiwalo lent her voice, full throated, to the outpouring of dissent on the unbridled extra judicial killings around us. Before that, she exploded on the scene at the Congressional Budget Hearing for her department where she stared down the committee members intent on influencing executive action.

Sec. Ubial, in a largely undocumented encounter, bravely stood up to the Congressmen at her own hearing who were threatening to withhold her budget if their demands were not met. Sec. Ubial, in a defiant tone, declared “we will not be held hostage”(talent managers should hang around these hearings as they have unwittingly created new media rock stars, famous or notorious).

As administrators they have taken charge of their departments and have hit the ground running. But it is for their grit that they stand out as avatars of the Cabinet’s non-political segment.

8. Secretary Regina Lopez of the DENR. Of all the President’s Men, it is Sec. Gina Lopez that has most channeled his berserk mode, specially when it comes to the mining sector. And this is a good thing. Mining is a largely esoteric enterprise, however profitable it has been to the country. The Secretary’s unflinching positions against irresponsible mining serves as a sorely needed tipping point to guarantee that only the sustainable pursuit of mining will be allowed under this administration.

9. Chairman Andy Bautista and the COMELEC. The kudos to Chairman Andy and his merry band of commissioners is long overdue. The nation owes them a debt for the honest, orderly and peaceful manner in which the 2016 elections were carried out. Despite the differences among themselves which we appreciate, specially in the Constitutional body most crucial in a republican democracy, they have managed to pull off a highly successful electoral exercise with minimal glitches. We have our elected officials. The ones we deserve.

The side light internal skirmishes are actually a bonus and a guarantee that healthy discussions will predominate in the Commission. This is much needed insurance against the Commission again being used as an inverted shield – to conceal fraud rather than to expose it.

Senate@100. In the shadow of the demise this year of three of its outstanding alumni: Jovito Salonga in March, Ernesto Maceda in June and Miriam Defensor-Santiago this September, the Senate celebrated its centennial at the Session Hall of the Old Executive House (now the National Museum) last October 6, 2016.

We congratulate Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, the Senators and the Senate administration and Staff on the Institution’s continued service to the Filipino and its abiding dedication to the cause of freedom, democracy and accountability.

The Senate, under the leadership of consecutive Senate Presidents from the time of its restoration post EDSA, succeeded in resurrecting its role of bastion of sanity and constancy, specially during the more turbulent periods when hope seemed lost, resistance futile and submission easy.

Today, we once again turn to the Senate to shine its beacon light on the creeping darkness that is paralyzing society. Please end the epidemic of silence and take the lead in the search for answers.

“The question is whether we can find in our midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence.” Robert F. Kennedy.