A BAD DREAM FOR THE NATION

 

“In her small cell, [Senator Leila de Lima] has a single bed, a stand fan, a few pieces of monobloc chairs, 5 small plastic boxes for her clothes, a full-length mirror, a 5-layer bookshelf, a tiny foldable side table, a desk filled with documents and books, hardly giving her space to move, and a few more boxes of books.

“She has a microwave oven, too – so far the only electronic appliance she’s allowed. She had requested that her staff brings her home-cooked food daily for safety reasons.

“The senator has a small ice chest, which her staff fills with store-bought ice daily.

“In a tiny bathroom, a toilet bowl, a pail of water, and a dipper are the only notable fixtures.

“She usually starts her day between 5 and 5:30 am by praying and reading the Gospel. De Lima said she has now become a “serious” Bible reader.” (De Lima: One year of living and surviving in jail, Rappler)

I could only wonder if Senator de Lima’s daily early morning quiet time of reflection has ever stirred up her memories of the traumatic events in the past that led to her present detention.

“De Lima, you are finished. Tapos ka na.”

Spine-chilling words above by PRRD -- the crux of her detention -- thundered during a midnight news conference in Davao City that ended in the wee hours of the morning. Getting on PRRD’s nerves, de Lima, as chair of the Commission on Human Rights, had spearheaded the investigation of summary executions carried out by death squads in Davao where, for more than two decades, PRRD held dominion as a mayor. Later, as chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, she set off a public inquiry into PRRD’s “war on drugs” -- a bloody extrajudicial campaign that has claimed thousands of lives.

“Senator de Lima takes the time to feed her new buddies – stray cats that have become her family. Her staff even brings fish for her cats, together with the senator’s daily meals.

“After attending to her cats, she starts cleaning her detention cell, including the small court outside.

“Yan na rin ang exercise ko rito. (That also serves as my exercise here).”

“After this, she resumes reading newspaper, work documents, and novels.

“She takes her siesta between 11 and 11:30 am, before again returning to reading. By 1 pm, she takes her lunch.

“She then spends the next few hours meeting with her staff as she tries to continue fulfilling her mandate. Around 3 to 5 pm, she spends time with visitors, if there are any, at the holding room.

“By 5 pm, when visitors are made to leave she’s back to having only stray cats as companions. It is the time when reality hits her most.” (De Lima, Rappler)

“She looks nice… Fighter talaga.”

PRRD’s typical words for the antagonist that could either be complimenting for her guts as a woman compared to her colleagues who have real balls but are spineless; or they’re words that could be titillating for her alleged sex videos then.

Looking back, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II offered at that time in showing at the House of Representatives panel hearing Senator de Lima’s alleged sex videos. Women’s groups and female lawmakers blocked the attempts to have the video shown.

“It is not me, as far as I’m concerned… It is a violation. A gross violation of my rights and my dignity as a woman.” Senator de Lima disavowed and raised objections.

Though the sex videos were not shown in the hearing, the House of Representatives panel feasted on the salacious grilling of the witnesses with lurid questions raised and suggestive comments made for the sexually arousing pleasure of the whole panel crowd.

“Nagtampisaw ba kayong dalawa sa init ng inyong katawan?”

“Pinagsamantalahan mo ba ang maselan na babae?”

 “Napakahilig mo namang magsalat.”

“[Senator de Lima] eats her no-rice dinner by 8 pm.

“The senator said she misses the time when she could cook and go to the market again. At one point during her first year in the Senate, she sent her specialty laing to reporters.

“I also miss going to Our Lady of Manaoag. I go there thrice a month. I miss driving because it relaxes me, also practical shooting, watching movies, listening to music, and dancing,” De Lima said.

“But for now, De Lima has no choice but to go on missing her life outside. She herself has learned to live with her current fate.

“And with the coming of her second year in jail, she said she only has a hope to cling to.

“It’s just hope. Realistically, it seems quite remote. Nothing less than a miracle would free me.” (De Lima, Rappler)

That hope has shown its face recently through the recantation of the testimonies of the prosecution star witness Rafael Ragos and the confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa. Ragos declared:

“I now hereby declare and make known to the whole world that there is no truth whatsoever to any of these affidavits or House and court testimonies, or any other statement made in the media or other investigatory proceedings, including the Senate and the DOJ.”

“There is no truth to this statement. I only stated this in order to further implicate Senator de Lima and Ronnie Dayan in the illegal drug trade criminal cases filed against her upon the instruction of Secretary Aguirre,” Ragos stated in his affidavit.

“[K]ung hindi, alam mo naman mangyayari.” [If you don’t do it, you know what will happen.] Ragos quoted Aguirre whose monkey business smacked of a movie script of a Fernando Poe movie infamous villain Max Alvarado’s skullduggery.

“It’s very apparent, siya [Aguirre] mismo namu-mwersa. Kailangan niyang magpa-guwapo kay President,” Ragos told the journalists. [It was Aguirre himself who was forcing me. He has to make himself look good to the President.] “It doesn’t matter if these people would get mad at me, what matters here is the truth. Those who did wrongdoings would be mad. What do I care?”

“This has been very hard on me. Now is the time you feel a little safer for you and your family. So, this has to come out,” Rafael Ragos said.

Unafraid to call a spade a spade, Ragos has seen the light at the end of the tunnel -- the advent of change, of something new to come, of hope for a brighter tomorrow for the whole nation.

During the campaign, the voters asked VP Leni questions. Here’s one: “Ang itatanong ko lang po ay tungkol doon sa pagkapantay-pantay po ng mayaman at mahirap kung mayroon pong nagagawang kasalanan. Maipapatupad po ba ng parehas na walang tinitingnan o kaya ginigilingan?” VP Leni answered:

“Dapat ganun. Pero hindi ganun ang nangyayari. Dalawang taon akong abogado sa PAO [Public Attorney’s Office]. Nakasampong taon akong abogado sa saligan. Ang aking inaabugaduhan ay yong mga mahihirap. Ang realidad, malas mo kung mahirap ka. At dahil ang daming corruption sa mga institutions natin, mawawala yon kung lilinisin natin ang mga institutions. Paano natin lilinisin yong mga institutions? Para sa akin, mayroong tatlo para kailangang gawin.

1. Dapat yong pag-aappoint ng mga kawani ng pamahalaan, dapat hindi political. Gusto kung sabihin dapat hindi kinikilingan kung kanino ba to kampi. Dapat yong ina-appoint mo, kasi siya yong, sa iyo, qualified.

2. Kailangan transparent. Pag sinabing transparent, kung ano yong ginagawa ng pamahalaan, dapat alam nating lahat.

3. Dapat mayron tayong mekanismo, ang tawag namin doon People’s Council. May mekanismo na kahit hindi ka bahagi ng pamahalaan, mayroong mekanismo na makapag-participate ka. Ibig sabihin kung ang topic na pinag-uusapan apektado ka, halimbawa, housing, hindi ka naman kapitan, hindi ka naman mayor, pero interesado ka sa programa ng pamahalaan, dapat meron kang boses. Sa amin sa Naga, ginagawa na namin yon, meron kaming People’s Council. Pag-ginawa natin yon sa ibang lugar, mababawasan ang corruption.”

The administration of the last six years has been a long bad dream. We hope and pray this May 9 election will be our nation’s wake-up call.