HOW BADLY does Harry Roque desire power?
Perhaps, that bad like Faustus, he is willing to trade his reputation, if not his soul, in a quid pro quo with the devil, or its earthly proxy.
That’s the immediate impression created in the public mind when a senatorial bet raked the former presidential spokesman over the coals for abandoning a previous pursuit of moral, legal and political importance in exchange for a potential power gain.
Harry Roque was a brave anti-Marcos and pro-human rights advocate, before he became a trying hard dancing senatorial aspirant, who could barely lift his pouch where it’s settled, and earlier, the former mouthpiece of a small-town despot who underestimated his political popularity.
The sudden celebrity among netizens, senatorial candidate Luke Espiritu noted Roque’s commendable history in a spirited and no-holds-barred performance during a debate on SMNI, the new kid on the media block. The transition is a shock, but no surprise: from patriot to pariah, the labor advocate summed up. It happened because Roque was given a slot in the senatorial line -up of the son of the late dictator whom Roque could not stomach before.
The temptation must be hard to resist that, recalling the wisdom of Oscar Wilde, Roque found that the way to fight it is to yield to it.
How easily or conveniently can Roque forget? Espiritu counted the number of the dictator’s sins as a result of martial law, and it’s on record Roque should know: thousands of Filipinos suffered death, torture and incarceration. He should have heard about Amnesty International, the provenance of Espiritu’s Exhibit A, given his previous preoccupation. “Life is tough”, John Wayne said, “but it’s tougher if you’re stupid.”
Roque, of course, is far from being one, although there’s some doubt about it after he heralded his boss as the best president the Philippines has ever had. In other words, diminishing the legend or myth spread out like rancid butter by his believers and beneficiaries that it was a golden age once upon a time in the Marcos lamented regime.
But Faustus is resolved and will not repent. The son is not the father nor the father the son.
Well, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had been hailed in court for not paying his taxes for, at least, four years when he was vice governor and governor in the North. Moral turpitude, shouted those who wanted the son disqualified. Not quite, said the other side, including the Commission on Elections. There’s an even more damning testimony by a former commissioner of a government agency hunting the stolen wealth amassed during the dictator’s time. The son became the co-administrator along with his mother, the one who was quoted as saying in her time that some people are just simply smarter than others, of the family estate.
Thus far, the family hasn’t paid the taxes due the government from the estate. The amount today stands at about P200 billion plus more or less, and growing. And there’s a caveat: the money due the government may likely dissipate into thin air because of prescription once the dictator son becomes the next president. More, the government agency created to look for those unexplained wealth may also be abolished once he gets the rein, according to a former Supreme Court justice.
It sounds logical, and lawyers like Roque are supposed to think this way. But Wayne must be right. Stupidity, however, is not a handicap in politics, according to Napoleon Bonaparte. Actually, it seems to be the zeitgeist in the ongoing political carnival where razzmatazz has the upper hand over substance. Consider the last surveys.
Roque is the microcosm, despite his size, sound and steps , of the bigger Faustian bargain offered the Filipino nation via its many, if not more, vulnerable, if gullible, voters. The repeated,recycled message is unity, notwithstanding the terrible past which may happen again. The alternative, of course, is sanity, democracy, law and the future. The right choice should be a no-brainer.
For Roque, like Faustus, the reward for trading one’s soul for success, which is likened to selling the most important thing in oneself, must outweigh the risk.”Had I as many souls as there be stars,” Faustus said, “ I’d give them all for Mephotophilis”. “By him, I’ll be a great emperor.”
Not so fast, not so sure. The last time Roque ran, Duterte assured him he would lose, which the best spokesman he has had he announced lately, a reciprocal gesture, did. Duterte didn’t say this time Roque will win, apart from saying that he is not endorsing any presidential moist eye, the dictator son included.
Senatorial candidates like Espiritu have already rendered valuable service to the people by pointing ominous give-aways that should guide Filipino voters into making a wise choice among the current crop of aspirants, whether presidential or senatorial. Honesty and hypocrisy cannot go hand in hand. He has made clear where Roque stands . Nobody can say he didn’t warn the voters. He’s not only being noticed big on social media but, hopefully, is clearing the cobwebs in people’s mind.
One person thoughtfully wrote that wild ideas can have more impact on people than memories. It’s a good thing that Espiritu and like-minded aspiring public servants joggle our memories of a not-so-distant past that Santayana urges us to remind ourselves in order not to repeat them. Thanks to the public debates, which some bets avoid for obvious reason. They are a teaching and learning moments.
