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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Compassion, Justice and Forgiveness By Antonio C. Abaya February 27, 2002 �If we made a mistake in allowing a dictator (i.e Ferdinand Marcos) to flee in the name of health, shall we do it all over again? To err is human. To forgive is divine, but to repeat is stupid�..Justice without mercy is unchristian. But mercy without justice is kalokohan�� So spoke Jaime Cardinal Sin during the otherwise ho-hum celebration of Edsa Uno last February 25. His words were the most meaningful ever uttered in all the 16 years since the landmark event. Hopefully, they will infuse some much-needed verbal testosterone into the balls of the wimps in Congress (136 in the Lower House, 19 in the Senate) who are maneuvering to let Joseph Estrada go into exile abroad on the flimsy pretext that he needs surgery on his knee. The ploy is correctly seen as an attempt to spring Estrada out of a probable conviction and incarceration for plunder. The Cardinal is to be congratulated for his blunt words. He has put on the spot not only the wimps of 2002 for trying to save the sybaritic Estrada from the consequences of his insatiable greed for wine, women and song (and the dubiously sourced monies to pay for them), but also the wimps of 1986 for having allowed the Marcoses and their cronies to escape prosecution for plundering the country during their watch. In other words, the revolution that never was should not be followed with another revolution that wasn�t. ***** The resolution going the rounds in Congress is supposedly based on appeals for compassion for the physical suffering of the waddling Erap. Erap himself has said that he did not mean to belittle the skills of Filipino doctors; he was merely invoking his right to be treated by a physician of his choice, like those abroad. One of Erap�s most ardent defenders, Sen. Tessie Oreta has criticized Cardinal Sin�s brutally frank words, reminding him of the Pope�s statement that true peace rested on commitment to justice and readiness to forgive. Actually, all these points of views can be reconciled if, instead of allowing Erap to leave for abroad, the modern equipment, which are said to be unavailable here, were imported by the government, shipped to Manila by air freight, and installed in Saint Luke�s or Makati Med, where Filipino doctors, who are just as skillful as their Amercian counterparts, can operate on Erap�s knees as well as the knees of other Filipinos who need this type of surgery. As I wrote in a previous piece, out of a population of 78 million, there must be at least 200 Filipinos other than Erap who need knee surgery. By importing the modern equipment, the Arroyo Government would be showing compassion not just for Erap but for at least 200 other Filipinos similarly afflicted. What could be more compassionate than that? If, after the modern equipment are brought in by the government, Erap still insists on being operated on by American surgeons, then that is his call, and that will be or should be the end to his shallow pretensions to being a nationalist. It has nothing to do with appealing for compassion. As for Sen. Oreta�s reminder of the Pope�s statement that true peace rested on a commitment to justice and a readiness to forgive, what can be a more convincing commitment to justice than for Erap to remain in this country and for his lawyers to stop delaying his trial. With or without knee surgery in Metro Manila, by Filipino or American surgeons. If he is acquitted, then bully for him. If he is convicted, then he goes to jail. After conviction, there will time enough for forgiveness. But forgiveness is possible only if there is genuine contrition on his part and a readiness to return the billions of pesos that do not rightfully belong to him and his greedy families and mistresses.. Kailangan bang ipokpok sa ulo mo yan, senadora? ***** Keeping Erap here to face trial has its risks, no doubt about that. Certainly the toothless crones that the Pwet ng Masa dredges up from the swamp for their demos will be out in force again to challenge President Arroyo. But she should rise up to the challenge and grapple with it frontally, instead of trying to look for a softer solution by allowing Erap to leave for, in effect, exile abroad, without accounting for his alleged misdeeds With several hundred American soldiers posted in the two military installations most prone to mercenary recruitment (Fort Laur and Mactan Air Base), the ability of the Pwet ng Masa to overthrow the Arroyo Government would be severely crippled. They can stage one demo after another, but without a strong military component, they would be plowing the wind and will in time shout themselves hoarse, voiceless and exhausted. President Arroyo must stand fast against all provocations from the Pwet ng Masa and their allies in Congress. The proposal outlined in this piece allows her to embrace compassion, commitment to justice and readiness to forgive, without sacrificing the demands of the frustrated and angry middle class for the beginning of a true revolution. ***** This article appeared in the March 18, 2002 issue of the Philippine Weekly Graphic magazine. |