The tragedy of the inarticulate
Posted by: Fats in: Fats, Vitamins & Minerals > Wika at Hirap > Media WatchA response to: PRESS STATEMENT-Makibaka, huwag matakot! We shall resist martial rule! by Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Teddy Casiņo, February 26, 2006.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her fascist clique are dreaming if they think they can intimidate Bayan Muna and the Filipino people into silence and inaction. On the contrary, her illegal declaration of a state of national emergency a euphemism for martial rule will only make us more resolute in demanding for her resignation or removal from office.
I’m sorry but “Bayan Muna” is not the Filipino people. To articulate a resistance against military rule does not simply mean a resolute demand for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign or be removed from office.
The events of the past two days were like scenes straight from the Marcos era. The violent dispersals, the ban on rallies and public demonstrations, the raid on the press, the warrantless arrests and threats of more arrests bring vivid images of those dark days under the dictatorship. The people will never accept a return to tyranny.
In the Philippine experience, we simply return from one brand of tyranny to another. Wasn’t Corazon Aquino accused of the massacre of peasant farmers at Mendiola? Wasn’t Fidel Ramos accused of numerous onerous contracts whose effects people are suffering today? Wasn’t Erap Estrada accused of money laundering, illegal gambling and kidnapping? Isn’t the left also responsible for in-fighting and violence which has resulted in tortures and killings?
I challenge Malacaņang, especially the Philippine National Police and Department of Justice: if they want me or anyone else in the opposition arrested, file the appropriate charges in court and follow due process. Let the fiscal’s office determine whether there is a case. If and when a warrant of arrest is issued, it should be properly served to us in Congress.
It indeed is amazing how our government needs to be “challenged” to follow due process and abide by the law. The same challenge is given to Congress, to those who deliberate the law.
The abduction and arrest of Anakpawis representative Crispin Beltran was foul and patently illegal. So was the attempted abduction of my party mate Satur Ocampo. The revived cases against them have all been dismissed. The new cases have yet to be filed. As representatives of the people, we can never allow ourselves to be subject to such illegal, degrading and draconian actions.
You are not “representatives of the people”, you are representatives of distinct ideologies that I challenge you to articulate against those who you believe advocate an ideology of oppression.
When the question of charter change was taken up at the Debate program of Winnie Monsod and Oscar Orbos, and of party list systems being abolished, Rep. Etta Rosales remarked: “Mawawala na kami!” Even she was surprised at what came out of her own mouth.
Make no mistake, we are ready to face the consequences of our political beliefs even if it results in our arrest. What we will never allow is for government to flagrantly violate our freedoms and civil liberties. We will resist to the fullest extent possible any and all forms of illegal, arbitrary arrest and detention.
Then please articulate the language of that resistance, and not simply make statements in the name of the Filipino people. Stand by and speak truth to the power of your ideologies and philosophies. Speak to the Filipino people, and do not simply claim to represent them.
