'Suicide is painless' (theme song from *M*A*S*H)

Through early morning fog I see… visions of the things to be,

The pains that are withheld for me, I realize and I can see…

That suicide is painless, it brings on many changes and I can take or leave it if I please….

As order and sanity begin to take hold of the Trina Etong / Ted Failon case, we can all probably agree that all of us who in one way or another became “involved” in the case actively or as a private citizen, have all become victims of the tragedy as well as our humanity.

As I reflected on Trina’s suicide and the events that followed, it became clear that we were all trapped in a one-way tunnel called “suicide”. Contrary to the popular theme song from the movie Mash, suicide is not painless; it’s simply another way out.

“The game of life is hard to play, I’m going to loose it anyway, the loosin’ card I’ll someday lay; so this is all I have to say….

That suicide is painless, it brings on many changes and I can take or leave it if I please….

It has not been painless for Ted Failon, certainly not for his two daughters. The questions will remain but the answers will never come except by the grace of God. The why, the could I have, should I have; as well as the utter helplessness in it all.

It has not been painless for friends and relatives, or the maids and drivers who have now become victims of such a traumatic experience and victims of consequence.

On a less personal but more professional level it has certainly not been painless for the members of the QCPD or the Department of Justice. To be accused or merely suspected of vindictiveness or revenge is in itself a painful experience under the circumstance. Unfortunately because of our humanity all this was bound to happen.

We all did what we thought was the right thing to do. Ted certainly did, the household helpers thought so and I’m sure that the cops felt they were merely doing their job. Even we in media did what we believe was the right thing to do. 

Unfortunately, the road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions and because we are human we have paved that road with hurt towards each other. That is the consequence of suicide.

People want to end the pain, the fear, the hurt or whatever it is that has become unbearable. They embrace the lie that it is painless, that it brings on many changes. What it actually does is breed even more hurt, more pain and more problems. We’ve also discovered that you don’t have to be a relative or a friend for “suicide” to hurt you. The song goes on….

“The only way to win is cheat, and lay it down before I’m beat. And to another give my seat, for that’s the only painless feat….Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes, and I can take or leave it as I please. And you can do the same thing if you please.

One life is lost. Three lives will never be the same again. Should we cheat by passing the buck of compassion, should we think about being right or wrong, victory or defeat? Should we walk away from being real human beings and focusing on our hurts and our “jobs” or “opinions”? Or can we break away from our normal selves and simply do the decent thing and help each other through this collective loss?

We started out by hurting each other and now we have gone to the next level of being suspicious and fearful of each other. Ted and his lawyers are suspicious of the government and the cops, the cops are suspicious of Ted and the others are afraid of a potential lawsuit. None of those left behind started this tragedy, should we add more to it? Or should we simply “walk across the room” and make it easier for everyone to move on, especially the children…..

“And I can take or leave it if I please. And you can do the same thing if you please”

The real obstruction of justice

The term “obstruction of justice” has another name, the Arroyo Administration.

I can’t remember another administration that ever came to power that has a longer list of incidents where various officials were publicly involved in attempts to intervene in or obstruct legal proceedings whether judicial or legislative in nature.

Long before people questioned the loyalty of Sen. Ping Lacson, it is public knowledge that cabinet members of the Arroyo administration actively engaged in “rescuing”, convincing or pressuring witnesses in controversies not to testify in Senate hearings, press conferences etc. In the last nine years, at least two cabinet members and several undersecretaries have been identified in clear acts of “obstruction of justice”.

But now, we are confronted by such action en masse. The lack of quorum in the congressional hearings to impeach the Ombudsman is too much of a coincidence since such a phenomena happens far too often when the government or one of its allies has to face an inquisition.

Was it coincidence that the hearing was on the day that the world panicked about Swine Flu or did they all come down with the flu that is not suppose to affect swine?

In response to their sudden absence at the impeachment, Mang Baste’ could only say, “Nag ka-babuyan na naman”.