Locked in fatal embrace

At the wake of Edgardo Olivares, spouse of Daily Tribune publisher, Ninez Cacho-Olivares, the favorite topic was the Corona impeachment trial. There was a free wheeling conversation. Will Corona be acquitted or convicted?

One said he was watching the trial and so far it is hard to tell. It could go either way. Another said it looks like an acquittal because there were not enough votes to convict. This was contradicted by another saying that only 3 votes were needed to convict. Still another said the only way Corona would be convicted was to put P100 million for each vote on the table.

Someone begged to differ and said he was optimistic that Corona would be acquitted and it had nothing to do with money or the court proceedings. He said the INK would use its political clout whose strength was demonstrated last February 27 when it put up a rally of more than a million people.

To me, whether SC Justice Renato Corona is convicted or acquitted, neither of them wins. They are locked in a fatal embrace from which neither can disengage. It will wound both of them. That is not necessarily bad or something we can avoid. If at all, the future of the Philippines looks good, with so many totem poles being knocked down one by one - Inquirer was being hit for its bad journalism. It is no longer true that ordinary people are afraid to speak their minds even without oligarch owned media. They are using FB instead and other social networks. More and more Filipinos are becoming aware of the unacceptable political structures open to abuse by all government officials. Indeed, they see the essential hypocrisy of prosecutors-legislators who are far wealthier nitpicking on the Chief Justice’s pithy assets and salns.

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I was surprised why some senators say that Cong. Tobias Tiangco’s testimony was irrelevant. On the contrary I think it is the most relevant. At the heart of the question is whether the impeachment is constitutional. Through Tiangco, we learned that it was not. But it was too late. With the proceedings in progress, to touch on its flawed origins would only mean so much time wasted and to the senator-judges, a lost opportunity to shine and bask in the power of the Senate as an impeachment court.

In a hierarchy of values, the story of how 188 congressmen/congresswomen were allegedly pressured to sign the impeachment articles with indecent haste bypassing the Constitution, is above the minutiae of Corona’s assets and salns. Tiangco’s revelations may be irrelevant to the impeachment court, but not to ordinary Filipinos who want it documented for history. Tiangco, the maverick congressman did that.

I saw him up close when he sat next to me during the Olivares wake. I thought of the incongruity — how this young man with shaggy hair and breathless conversation should be the whistleblower of the unconstitutional impeachment. His record as a three-time mayor of Navotas, his accomplishments and his CV are impressive. (See my time line in Facebook). 

Relatives and friends warned his constituents will suffer if he does not get his PDAF (also known as pork barrel). But an inner voice told him that even if he was the only one not to sign, someone had to do it.

He does not know up to this day, what made him take the plunge. He had a choice but he still went ahead with his bold action — that was his destiny.

I wanted to tell him to read Leo Tolstoy’s novels about free will and destiny. More important he acted on what he thought was right. He watched his colleagues march out of the room where they were made to sign with no questions asked. “We will sign but we will not forget” some of them said. When the time comes for reckoning they will speak out. They are part of the herd playing safe.

MISCELLANY: Unknown to many, a group of women in or for mining have banded together as Diwata (Pilipino for fairy with magical powers). They will participate in the Technical Working Group meeting in Congress on March 19. This is the first time that Diwata voices will be heard in Congress. They are a formidable group of women professionals.

Among the IPs in Tampakan, a woman is the head of the tribal group. Women like her should be given an opportunity to come forward to say how mining has improved their lives. They have inspiring stories to share with the rest of the nation.

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I did not know the word Kizuna but it must mean bayanihan, the Pilipino word for working together. Mr. Hatsuhisa Takashima, former chief commentator and director-general of NHK News and former Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave a lecture on “Disaster Management with Focus on Japanese Quick and Efficient Recovery.”

We had an earlier interview with Ambassador Takashima and he gave us a run-down on the situation in Japan today. It was good to hear from him that the infrastructure and economy of the disaster-affected regions are recovering.

We need to realize that Fukushima is such a small part of Japan and its economy. Life continues in this beautiful country that is home to a resilient people.

Ambassador Urabe said Japan is open for business, tourism and study.

Prime Minister Noda in a statement said that more than 80 percent of disaster-affected local governments have completed the formulation of a “Reconstruction Plan,” which includes ambitious targets to become “global models” for the introduction of renewable energies and development of hubs for advanced medicine.

Noda added that above all, “one of Japan’s most important responsibilities is to share the knowledge and lessons gained from the disaster with the international community, and leave this body of knowledge to posterity. We seek to contribute to the international community, actively providing information in such areas as enhancement of nuclear safety and disaster prevention measures.”

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The Third Edition of The Book of Virtues and Values by Bernie Villegas of The Center for Research and Communication of the University of Asia and the Pacific was launched last Thursday.

Ambassador Roberto Mayorga of Chile gave the opening remarks and talked on the importance of calidad humana.

“Calidad humana is a virtue that represents somebody with human character, someone with human compassion.” He praised Filipinos for this virtue. “They are very caring and compassionate - something that other cultures have taken for granted.”