WikiLeaks merely advances history writing

It is silly of some people to say that WikiLeaks should be ignored because the subjects of the leaks will not confirm the authenticity of the documents and the events described. In truth, most if not all of the US Embassy documents released by WikiLeaks pertaining to us merely confirmed what we already knew from our own local grapevine. It is wrong to say we should ignore those leaks. A number of these leaks have the air of truth, confirmed or not by official sources.

I have heard most of those stories from real persons who had first hand knowledge of the events described because they were there or participants themselves. The stories were told to me with the understanding that even if I used the stories they tell, I should not allow the stories to be traced back to them at least for the time being. Enough time have passed however, and I think it is time that some of these people should use the WikiLeaks disclosures as reason enough to start speaking up.

Following normal processes over a lengthy period of time, all those US Embassy documents leaked by WikiLeaks would be declassified, turned over to the US National Archives where scholars, journalists and almost anyone with a good reason to see them are given access. WikiLeaks is merely advancing the public release of those documents.

I take the view that we need to know the truth right now. For example, the WikiLeaks documents that revealed attempts of Ate Glue to declare martial law should not be ignored. Even if we have heard that story before, what she tried to do is an affront to our vow in EDSA 1… NEVER AGAIN! We vowed in 1986 we will never let a tyrant take away our freedom, suppress opposition and promote self interest. It is chilling to know that we came that close to losing everything again.

I have heard this story weeks after it happened many years ago from two people, one a current public official and the other a former official... both senior enough to have access to Malacañang. I hope they step up to confirm this so our people will know for sure.

I found the recent reaction of Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario revealing. When asked to comment on WikiLeaks revelations, Secretary Del Rosario said administration officials will no longer comment on WikiLeaks but added, “you should believe what you read.” That was a take on the reaction of former US Ambassador Kristie Kenney who when asked about her cable on former President Aquino and on current President Aquino tweeted that “you should not believe everything you read.”

Ms. Kenney didn’t deny the authenticity of the documents and what she wrote there but merely implied that we should read these in proper context. Fair enough. But Secretary Del Rosario’s pahabol is more revealing. To those of us who know his story, I took that as a confirmation of those WikiLeaks documents. In fact, I think P-Noy should give Mr. Del Rosario permission, in fact, an order to tell the story of how and why he lost his posting in Washington. The public has all the right to know.

Mr. Del Rosario’s story is widely known by his friends in the business community. I heard it a number of times with slight variations in the story telling. According to that story, two top officials, one a Cabinet member and the other a politician successively went to Washington DC on a mission to get the State department and eventually the White House to agree to a plan to declare martial law. The rebellion of the Marines and the Rangers under Gen Danny Lim gave the mission some urgency. Until then, the excuse they were using was what seemed like orchestrated bombings and kidnappings attributed to supposed Al- Qaeda affiliated guerillas.

One story I head was that one of these officials arrived in DC in the dead of night, knocked on then Ambassador del Rosario’s door and found the envoy already in pajamas ready for dreamland. But what the ambassador heard gave him a nightmare instead. The Ambassador was said to have tried to convince the visiting official that the US government will not endorse martial law. But the official was insistent on meeting senior State department officials at the very least. Of course Ambassador Del Rosario was correct in his assessment.

The more chilling story happened at the Palace on the night Ate Glue signed an emergency proclamation. The story I got from one of the insiders is that they tried to dissuade her from signing an even more draconian martial law proclamation. But they had problems with then Speaker Joe de Venecia who was the most hawkish of the officials present. I understood that the officials were convinced there was no legal justification for martial law but Joe de V insisted martial law was needed to among others control the press.

This is why WikiLeaks is such a blessing. No matter how free our mass media can be these days, we in media cannot always provide the whole truth because government officials can and do use the powers of the law to shield nefarious things they do. Sometimes they call it executive privilege. Most of the time it is just sheer shameless manipulation called public relations.

Those who are in the know, who had personal knowledge of these events, owe it to our people and to their children and grand children and many generations hence to give an account of those events right now. To keep quiet is to be a traitor to the country, our people and the democratic ideals we believe in.  

Come on Secretary Del Rosario… tell us why you were unceremoniously ousted from Washington and you were the last to know.

Art appreciation

In Singapore, they had what they called Affordable Art Fair and they sold S$1.75 million ($1.46 million) worth of art. Gallery owners told Reuters the growing interest in art in Singapore and elsewhere in Asia is due to the region’s rapid economic growth, creating a large middle class with extra money to spend.

What about here? Art and the appreciation of art were democratized in recent weeks with a very public controversy over a Cultural Center exhibit that included an entry with a religious theme that offended a lot of people in the Catholic community. The very lively exchange of views in the front pages of local newspapers and in a public hearing at the Senate brought art down to people from all walks of life and beyond just the usual so called art literati.

The public’s art education now continues as Manila’s top museums work together to share the beauty, versatility and wonder of Filipino art – and art in general – to the Filipino common man. “Open Call,” is an art festival opening on Sept. 15 at 6 pm at the SM Mall of Asia atrium and it will showcase a well-rounded collection of art in its different forms --- visual arts, culinary arts, film and fashion, sound, and dance.

The art experience promised by “Open Call” features lively and festive activities including live dance and sound performances, a cosplay parade, gaming demonstrations, and the unveiling of a freedom wall. “Open Call” is the 10th anniversary offering of “Zero In,” the annual collaboration of five of Manila’s most highly-regarded private museums---the Lopez Memorial Museum, Ateneo Art Gallery, Ayala Museum, Bahay Tsino, and Museo Pambata.

The Zero-In consortium was established in the hope of expanding and deepening the people’s appreciation of our art and rich cultural heritage. It aims to further promote the Philippines not just as the home of many renowned masters but a place where the art movement is as loud and bustling as it should be.

Here is an “open call” to everyone to make art relevant and important again to every Filipino and to renew interest in our museums – places where we can appreciate, witness and experience the wonder and beauty of all forms of art and be proud to be Filipinos.

Segregation

This one is from Dennis Garcia.

Ang pagpili ng kaibigan ay dapat alinsunod sa probisyon ng Republic Act 9003: ihiwalay ang PLASTIK at ibukod ang BULOK sa DI-NABUBULOK!  

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. He is also on Twitter @boochanco