Let's go easy on amnesty
Amnesty is the name of the game currently talked about in various sectors. Started by the "master reconciliator" in the person of the Speaker of the House, it has spawned a lot of questions about the motives behind it.
Is the proposal a trial balloon to gauge the reaction of the people on the possible conviction of deposed President Estrada from the plunder charge? What about the ongoing peace talks between the GRP and the MILF? Is the administration poised to give in to the Muslim demand for a clean bill of health for all its members?
And what of the CPA-NPA? Is the government giving up its 30-year campaign against this band of declared terrorists?
The Oakwood mutineers - are they to go scotfree too? Their point man has been elected to the Senate. Is the government trying to win him to its side to beef up its depleted force in that body?
Peace is a sweet commodity. Where it prevails there is progress. But peace bought at the price of surrendering our national integrity is peace that will inevitably pull down this country into the mudpool of discontent and disunity. And when this happens the collapse of this Republic is not far away.
If we recall, there have been amnesty and amnesty in the past. During the time of President Aquino and later of President Ramos some six amnesty proclamations were issued. There was one for rebel returnees, another for returnees from seccionist groups and still another for RAM soldiers under now Senator Honasan. Now the Arroyo administration is considering some kind of blanket amnesty for all "enemies" of the state, including communists, military and Moro rebels.
The question is, have these amnesties brought harmony and concord to the country? Yes, we absolved the crimes of some 4,000 military officers and soldiers in the 1987 and 1989 coup attempts even if these had caused tremendous damage to lives and properties. Yes, we bowed to the demands of Misuari's separatist rebels and created the ARMM. Yes, we started peace talks with Sison's NDF-CPA group (and dropped these later). But have these initiatives prevented the Oakwood mutiny? The MNLF resurgence? The ongoing NPA atrocities in the countryside?
An amnesty at best is a mere palliative. You can declare all enemies of this Republic immuned from charges but you can't make them regular, law-abiding citizens. Most of them, like the communists, are diehard ideologues. They may come down from the mountain, but to join the mainstream and be loyal to the Republic would be a no-no for them. As for the Muslim separatists, do you think they would give up their quest just like that?
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Every amnesty proclamation is a declaration of weakness. It's a public acceptance of failure to enforce the law. To mount a putsch to bring down the government is an offense of the highest order.
Kidnapping, ambushing, and beheading soldiers are crimes that cry to high heavens for justice. Shall these be now condoned just to keep the remaining years of the Arroyo governance undisturbed?
To proclaim amnesty for criminals is like spitting at our laws against criminality. Worse, it is an insult against our law enforcers who gave up their lives to uphold the law. Where's justice if we let those who flout the law go unpunished? We might as well open our jails and let go of those who are there - especially the ones with less serious offenses.
Christianity teaches us the art to forgive. But the same faith wants us to practice justice. And justice does not mean going rolly-polly with evil but stamping it out without yielding to compromise.
Compromises, compromises. This is exactly what is bugging this country. We do not see evil clearly nor understand goodness fully. As long as it benefits us, what do we care where evil begins and goodness ends?
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