Now, you can count President Bongbong Marcos as a surprise fan of his late father’s political nemesis, Ninoy Aquino. He did not not only abolish the nation’s celebration of the hero’s martyrdom; he also extolled him somewhat profusely.
On that day, hindi siya nag-iisa, if that immediate, nudging impression is correct.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t at the Sto. Domingo Church where the faithful and the loyalists – “dilawan”, if you will, gathered to remember him , where a gray-haired bishop and the hero’s eldest daughter had a common hope or certainty. Someday, they said, drawing from Scriptures ,one after the other, there will be a judgment day. The unmistakable message to its unnamed audience : may araw din kayo.
Obviously, a reaction to PBBM’s challenge, Bishop Socrates Villegas clarified that all blood is red, and there’s no yellow or blue. Blood is more important than political color because bloods means life and the death anniversary remembers a blood shed for the sake of many, regardless of political color.Transcends political barrier? But look who’s talking, trolls, appointees and all.
Someday, in the near future or much later, PBBM will have to explain what he said on the 40th death anniversary of the one who had predicted how his trip back home from exile will end up: straight to jail or a gunman’s bullet. The tragic shot at an airport tarmac was heard around the world and still reverberates.
He said he stands with all Filipinos to commemorate – a word that implies honor and respect—the death of a martyr. He salutes his father’s political foe for his virtues which the hero, he said, deemed right. PBBM didn’t say he shared those virtues that inspired, he said, many of his countrymen. That word would have had a multiplier effect worthy of its personal and political investment. It was a potential game changer, missed or dismissed.
“Be brief, be sincere and be seated”, former American President Franklin Roosevelt had said.
There was a political artifact polished into a loser’s dice during the older Marcos’s time as president or dictator, if you will. A special election was called for the legislative body, the only one in accordance with the wish of the dictator. By definition, politicians are hopelessly optimists , so the opposition fielded its best or brightest – never mind whichever came first—and got wiped out. The ruling side made a simple explanation in keeping with the zeitgist: pinayagan na silang tumakbo, tapos gusto manalo pa.
While PBBM was being his polite best, an incorrigible member of his Cabinet was busy making a mockery of the event. He wore a yellow shirt on social media to prove where his mouth is , he called the great man the opposite of who is, has been and will be to many. Apparently, the right hand or the hand that feed him, didn’t know what the left hand was doing, or didn’t care. I don’t the mind the color of the cat is as long as it catches mice, China’s Deng Shia Ping said. He may be an SOB, another man said, he is our SOB.
As if a ghost in August, the redemptive death remembrance of Ninoy’s death constantly reminds the nation of the political witchcraft that has bewitched people time and time again. The call for unity echoes like the mythical Greek goddess Circe’s song in a great voyage to a certain destination. The problem is not the song but Circe, a sorcerer. Santayana warns: forget the past , you will do it again. Or Rizal: sa bayang walang nagpapaloko,walang manloloko.
“Now I know what a ghost is,” wrote the controversial novelist Salman Rushdie,” it is unfinished business.
We have a long laundry list.
The death of Ninoy is unfinished business. The delayed probe of the crime against humanity as initiated by the International Criminal court is unfinished business. The recovery of ill-gotten wealth from the Marcoses and their cronies is unfinished business. The complete restoration of Philippine respect and credibility in the international arena is unfinished business. The dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea is unfinished business. The fight against deep poverty is unfinished business. Graft and corruption in government is unfinished business. The fight for injustice in the land is unfinished business.
A paid troll’s message was posted on social media a few weeks ago. It said” thank you, my son, for a Supreme Court ruling deciding in favor of the First Lady’s case on alleged ill-gotten wealth. In the meantime, there is no word yet, that is really final because no decision is said to be cast on stone, on another earlier SC ruling ordering PBBM and his mom to settle the P23 billion estate tax . That was made about 20 years ago.
Ninoy had always believed in the Filipinos. Every one of them is worth dying for he once said. He said it, believed it and paid the price. His death led to the overthrow of the Marcos regime and ended decades of authoritarianism and human rights abuse. Years later, the only son of the dictator his death toppled down, came back to regain power and the presidency.
There seems to be a more appropriate, less heroic, saying that became a byword: some are smarter than others.
Ninoy also left behind a lofty idea: a man must not only be brilliant but must also have a heart.
Does PBBM fit the bill? There will be five more SONAS ,at least five more Ninoy’s death anniversaries and more foreign trips to go. Let’s wait and see, in that order. Meantime, the good bishop reminds the people to avoid feigning sleep, figuratively speaking. Ang hipong tutulog-tulog, tinatangay ng agos.
