WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF THE TNT TRIO?

 

“After a yearlong search for truth about the anomalous 2022 election, Gen. Eliseo Rio found direct evidence that Smartmatic, not the Filipino people, ‘elected’ Mr Marcos, in conspiracy with Comelec. Given that, I say Mr. Marcos is an illegitimate ‘president’. No legal authority nor moral ascendancy to govern.”

This was the bold statement of Col. Leonardo O. Odoño at the Global Transparency and Transformation Advocates Network last July 23 as quoted by Jarius Bondoc in his Philstar column GOTCHA on August 4. The “direct evidence” he referred to was detailed in Rio’s position paper “A Preponderance of Evidence Shows That The May 09, 2022 Election Was Rigged.”

The TNT Trio – the acronym TNT signifying Truth and Transparency, and a name for the three Information Technology experts Eliseo M. Rio, Augusto C. Lagman, and Franklin F. Ysaac – exposed the anomalies and discrepancies in the 2022 election and presented their findings to the public through Rio’s position paper.

WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF JESUS CHRIST?

Odoño’s bold statement reminds me of the dilemma that faced the people during the time of Jesus Christ. In one of his works titled, “What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?” (which inspired me to write this article), C. S. Lewis wrote:

“[Jesus Christ] says … ‘I am begotten of the One God, before Abraham was, I am,’ and remember what the word 'I am' were in Hebrew. They were the name of God…

“[T]he only person who can say that sort of thing is either God or a complete lunatic…”

Lewis emphasized: “Either [Jesus] was a raving lunatic … or else He was, and is, precisely what He said. There is no middle way. If … the first hypothesis [is] unacceptable, you must submit to the second.”

Let us apply Lewis’ logic to Odoño’s bold statement and see the parallel between the two contexts.

“Smartmatic, not the Filipino people, ‘elected’ Mr Marcos, in conspiracy with Comelec. Given that, I say Mr. Marcos is an illegitimate ‘president’. No legal authority nor moral ascendancy to govern.”

The only person who can say that sort of thing either is telling the truth, or, a liar, if not, in Lewis’ words, “a complete lunatic.”

Just as Jesus’ moral teachings and character have refuted the accusation of being a complete lunatic, so too have the TNT Trio’s preponderance of evidence that countered the suspicion of their being liars as well as their impressive credentials that dismissed the impression of their being “complete lunatic”.

            On the question, “What are we to make of Jesus Christ? Lewis wrote:

“This is a question which has, in a sense, a frantically comic side. For the real question is not what are we to make of Christ, but what is He to make of us? The picture of a fly sitting deciding what it is going to make of an elephant has comic elements about it.

“But perhaps the questioner meant what are we to make of Him in the sense of “How are we to solve the historical problem set us by the recorded sayings and acts of this Man?”

CAN PH SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?

Adapting this question to our current situation: “What are we to make of the TNT Trio?” along with following Lewis’ line of reasoning, we arrive at this answer from the same logic as Lewis’.

This is a question which has, in a sense, a frantically comic side. For the real question is not what are we to make of TNT Trio, but what are they to make of us? The picture of a fly sitting deciding what it is going to make of an elephant [in the room: the rigged 2022 election] has comic elements about it. But perhaps the questioner meant what are we to make of the TNT Trio in the sense of “How are we to solve the 2022 election problem set to us by their preponderance of evidence showing that the election was rigged?

The crucial point: Can PH solve this problem?

What is going on with our Big Brother USA today? The following Politico headline speaks volumes about the state of its political health.

“641 years behind bars? No, but Trump’s risk of prison is real.”

The headline tells us that Donald Trump is facing 78 felony charges across three criminal cases, many of them carrying the potential for hefty prison time. And if convicted on all counts, Politico reported that he would face 641 years in prison, based on the maximum statutory penalty for each one. The charges that might carry the most severe penalties for him involve obstruction of justice – which include allegedly impeding the government’s attempts to retrieve the classified documents and disrupting the Jan 6, 2021 session of Congress.

Various newspaper editorial boards across the U.S. largely endorsed Trump’s latest indictment.

The New York Times Editorial Board wrote that the U.S. “had never seen an indictment of this magnitude”. The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board called the indictment “especially grave”, adding that “indicting a former president is a traumatic event for the nation.”

“In some ways, certainly, this is yet another new low for the country…” the Miami Herald Editorial Board wrote. “But it may also show us that our institutions are strong enough to stand up to the kind of prolonged assault that a person like Trump – an amoral person with money, power, and massive, easily wounded ego – has heaped on it.”

Uncle Sam seems to be sliding down its political slope, but its strong guardrails – the institutions – are holding out and staying on course.

TNT TRIO CHALLENGES OUR SOCIETY

Let us come back home, here and now, and ask again: “How are we to solve the 2022 election problem set to us by the TNT Trio’s preponderance of evidence showing that the election was rigged? Can PH solve this problem? Here is a prerequisite question: Can we trust our institutions?

The recent headlines on Trump indictment prompted me to look up the meaning of the word “indictment” from the online dictionary which gave me this one insightful definition: “A thing that serves to illustrate that a system or situation is bad and deserves to be condemned.”

Then the dictionary gave this striking usage example: “These rapidly escalating crime figures are an indictment of our society.”

By simply replacing the subject, the resulting sentence turns out to be a fitting statement in wrapping up this article:

The 2022 election rigging controversy is an indictment of our society.

But is that all we can say? Is there no hope for change? Is there no way to restore trust and integrity in our electoral system? Is there no role for us citizen, to play in holding our leaders accountable and demanding justice?

I believe there is. I believe we can make a difference. I believe we can learn from our Big Brother USA and from our world happiest country Finland. I believe we can challenge our institutions to do better, to serve us better, to protect us better. I believe we can challenge ourselves to be better informed, better engaged, better empowered.

The TNT Trio has given us a wake-up call. They have shown us the truth and transparency we deserve. They have challenged us to face the elephant in the room: the rigged 2022 election.

The question: How will we respond?

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