Behind Masquerades

At PRESSing time

Johana Vi E. Gasga/BUDYONG

It seems that threats of Mayon’s imminent eruption last year are dwindling. Likewise, the month-long sympathetic publicity of some local and presidential candidates with the thousands of evacuees in Albay has been petering out in news screens and in prints.

Indeed, the holiday season is the time for spending much and sharing less. And so, political aspirants in the May 2010 elections did not pass the chance of basking in the limelight while distributing foodstuff and basic necessities for the refugees.
Just after she got off the plane from Hong Kong, President GMA flew again to visit some 45,000 local folks at the evacuation centers in the province. Who wouldn’t be thankful of preserved goods, temporary comforts and amusements? But what we need are long-term solutions providing aid to residents within the 6-kilometer permanent danger zone. These temporary relief or solutions offered by the government would not even ease the discomfort they endured while staying at the evacuation centers, away from their family members (who have been slipping out to watch over their houses at night). Nor would it compensate for their lost livelihood including crops which should have been harvested after leaving their residences due to forced evacuation. In all likelihood, Pres. GMA’s agenda seems to be like a double-edged sword—highly charged with political mileage and making ‘pa-ganda’ points to gain public trust through “public service.”After all, she would be agin pursuing her desire to be a (deceptive) public servant in our ailing country, stressing a line from one of her speeches: “After much contemplation, I realized I’m not ready to step down completely from public service.”

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As if to follow the footsteps of the president, Senators Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas, Liberal Party (LP) standard bearers for president and vice-president, respectively, also visited the evacuation camps in Daraga and Legazpi City. They are fake Santa Clauses without the white beard, bringing cheer and hope in an attempt to establish a good image. No surprises to that. After all, the 2010 election is just a couple of months away and the candidates have been scouring every nook and cranny of our country for the best – or shall I say most depressed – place to spread their good deeds to. And the evacuation centers in Albay happened to be the best among the most depressed.

It is a pity indeed how some of the candidates would take full advantage of certain situations just to create a good public image. But it is more pitiable to see how they desperately seek the approval of the public that they would go as far as exploiting the poorest of the poor for the votes they've been dying for. Little saints, that's what the politicians would morph into at the peak of election campaign. But once the election is over and the lucky few get elected, their true form would eventually come back and reveal themselves.

Helping others in times of calamities is one thing. Doing it for their benefit is another.

Bloody Glorious Mystery

It happened on a Wednesday (March 5, 2009), to a 20-year old teacher near their house in Bago Gallera de Oro Subdivision in Davao City. It was at about 6:30 in the afternoon of that mysterious day when she was snatched by armed men, suspected by her family as military agents.

She was found dead by a farmer with stab wounds and torture marks near an irrigation ditch. The autopsy report indicated a laceration in her genitals and believed to have been harshly raped.

Rebelyn Pitao was the daughter of a ranking communist guerilla, ‘Commander Parago’. He is a communist rebel who never weakens the cause of the revolution against the oppressive government despite the brutal fate of his youngest slain daughter.

How ironic the day (Wednesday) when she was brutally tortured by unidentified agents and let the innocent lady suffered the agony that was not really set for her fate.
In fact, it should have been a glorious, resurrection day to a pious, Virgin Mary devotee. Haha. I was bothered by the day.

I couldn’t seek any legal reason why this kind of incident is never given an all-out investigation by our law enforcement agents nor have the full support from our government to conduct series of investigation to solve the case. The outraged voice of the slain victim is screaming for her human rights and justice that those responsible should be punished. “C’mon the gaunt chicks are getting weaker.” Why is it – that the justice in the Philippines, like those hopes and dreams of the victims are so shattered, thus will be impossible? L

Is it because the unidentified suspects are those who are granted the power to arrest the insurgents and have the responsibility on apprehending the criminals? Or the reason that Rebelyn’s father is a communist rebel leader who is fighting for the corrupt and unscrupulous leaders of our country?

As I was reading the pages on Rebelyn’s incident, the realization has been beleaguering my mind with the thoughts that the Philippine laws are now susceptible to impunity, exclusively for our government officials and those who have armaments in our communities. I don’t know exactly why these people who can buy lives and accept bribes, live with their dirtiest conscience they have. Sigh. After all, those powerful perpetrators could no longer be identified as human-slayers, nor the wildest beasts protected and defended by military fangs. But demonic creatures, hiding in their camouflage indeed. Sigh again.
What a bittersweet revenge! Why should be the daughter who lived a serene life, devoting her invaluable time and efforts to teach the children upland, has to compensate for her dad’s ideologies against an oblivious crooked government?

Rebelyn is just one of the unfortunate victims of the many unresolved cases in the Philippines. When will these atrocities be resolved? When to take steps addressing the violence of those civilians who happened to be relatives of the targets?

“What’s the mystery again?”
It was Wednesday. Perhaps it’s a glorious mystery!

A camouflage GLORY – indeed glory to the culprits.