EDITORIAL — Arrogance of power

When accused of high crimes, sneer. This is the attitude of a government confident that it can get away with anything. Last week the President’s chief legal counsel, Sergio Apostol, described witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr. as a “crying boy” who should be deported to China.

The self-deprecating Lozada had described himself as a mere “probinsiyanong intsik” who feared for his life and his family’s because of what he knew about the $329-million national broadband contract between ZTE Corp. and the Department of Transportation and Communications. Amid protests from the Chinese-Filipino community, Apostol apologized yesterday for his remark about the deportation.

There was no apology to Lozada, who broke down for the first time during his pre-dawn press conference as he said that sometimes it was worth taking risks for one’s country. He has broken down in public a few more times since then, while fielding questions during his Senate testimony.

Considering the situation he’s in, the tears and fears are understandable. Ordinary Filipinos who aren’t receiving death threats or being kidnapped by government forces are often frustrated enough about their country to want to weep. International surveys have shown that Filipinos are among the happiest people on the planet, even amid loneliness overseas or grinding poverty back home. We like to say that we laugh so we won’t weep. Lozada, his quiet life now changed forever, has not yet learned the art of laughing away his tears. Considering what he knows and what has been done to keep him silent, it may hurt too much for him to laugh.

Lozada should feel no embarrassment about his tears. In the face of brazen corruption and the arrogance of power, a disgusted nation cries with him.