On the corner of Edsa and White Plains Avenue in Quezon City, dozens of Philippine flags stand at attention in neat, equidistant rows. The national tricolors provide mute testimony to the heroism of an equal number of police commandos who died because their commander-in-chief would not rescue them when they were set upon by a numerically superior force, after they had performed their foreign-dictated, reward-rich mission upon their leader’s behest.
A huge LCD screen that is usually rented out to purveyors of various consumer goods a little down the highway from the awkwardly named (for this occasion, anyway) People Power Monument, in front of the national military headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, flashes the names and photos of the 44 highly-trained warriors for the same reason that the flags are there. Remember those who died, both flags and screen images seem to say; do not let their sacrifice be in vain.
Today is the third anniversary of that defining moment in the presidency of Benigno Simeon Aquino III, the horrible incident now called the Mamasapano Massacre. And as far as I know, no one has been held responsible for the brutal killing by Moro insurgents of 44 elite members of the PNP Special Action Force in a deserted cornfield in a far-flung, rebel-infested town in Maguindanao province, three long years after the fact.
Of course, the people who usually hang out at the monument every February to mark another occasion would rather that we forget all about Mamasapano and the 44 SAF troopers who died there. As far as these people are concerned, it’s perfectly all right to charge Aquino with usurping a power that was already his (the official complaint says so) and to “move on,” as they urged us all three years ago, when Noynoy’s presidency was shaken to its foundations in the aftermath of the massacre.
It is no coincidence that these same Filipinos will not allow anyone to move on when it comes to events that they have long ago weaponized to serve their own partisan political purposes. The “never forget” crowd does want us to forget—but only the stuff that throws shade on their idol from Times Street.
But Mamasapano, like the PDAF/DAP scandals and the Dengvaxia debacle, to name just two other national tragedies directly involving Noynoy, will never be forgotten. There is no question that Aquino’s failures have been seared into the national consciousness for good, or else we would be paying homage today to Aquino’s designated successor, the equally pedigreed and high-born understudy from Cubao, instead of to that uncouth provinciano who is everything that Noynoy and his chosen one are not.
I am under no illusion that the Filipino nation will see Aquino pay for Mamasapano and other crimes during this administration, given its lack of interest in the sort of political vendetta that Noynoy was famous for. But I am certain that one day, all of those who suffered under the inept, thieving, hypocritical and unfeeling presidency that gave us Mamasapano and many more variations on the same theme will secure the justice that they deserve.
I will not believe that God will allow Noynoy to ride into the sunset, cigarette smoke trailing behind him, convinced that he was the best president this country ever had, that he always had the best interest of his “bosses” in mind and that he never, ever did anything wrong. It may take time, but Aquino will not escape punishment for his grievous sins, which cry to the heavens for restitution.
The flags along Edsa and the names and faces of the SAF 44 will not allow such a miscarriage of justice to happen. Never mind if they cannot utter one word.
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This goes out to Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero: Why is impeached former Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista able to thumb his nose on the entire Senate and the justice system in general and you and your committee in particular?
How can Bautista fail to appear for three consecutive hearings called by Escudero’s committee, which is investigating how the disgraced former elections official stashed billions in some heretofore unknown bank and not merit the same thundering anger that the Senate is known to display to such recalcitrant “resource persons”? Aren’t people who make a mockery of the Senate by ignoring its summonses, even once, immediately hunted down and jailed for contempt?
This is a Senate where people who do appear and are bullied to answer the silliest of questions are ridiculed and threatened. A Senate where nothing is supposed to be kept hidden, no matter how trivial, in aid of legislation and the search for truth.
And yet Bautista, who is accused of everything from hiding billions from his lawful wife, who is entitled to half of his money, to rigging the elections has placed himself beyond the reach of the Senate. Why, Senator Chiz?
Escudero has declared that Bautista will now be compelled by the Senate to appear before it in the next hearing through a subpoena. Given his record of so successfully evading the simple chore of putting in an appearance in any venue (including the courts where he is facing charges and where he merely sends his hired legal help) where he would be asked uncomfortable questions, I must say I have next to no confidence that this will happen.
Bautista seems to have fallen off the edge of the earth. And none of the people whose job it is to find him seem to give a damn.
