I was at Podium on that momentous event. And hearing the words addressed to the Convicted-Plunderer no less than by the Icon-of-Democracy herself, I wished I were at a different place.
I’ve just had a business meeting with one of my suppliers from
Were those offers of handshake for me? Have I suddenly become a celebrity?
I made my one-million-dollar-smile ready for the appreciating crowd and cameras, put extra effort to come up with a twinkle in my eyes, and secretly wiped my hands on the sides of my pants, ready to return and acknowledge the offers of hand. You could hear my thoughts aloud like you’re in a THX moviehouse: Yes, I was a celebrity!
Now there was one last thing to do: I looked around – half of it to confirm that the much undeserved attention was indeed for me and the other half to recognize and show appreciation for the same attention that I was suddenly being showered with.
And then I saw him. Just at my back, one step below me at the escalator was a man dressed in a black suit, his hair meticulously prepped with pompadour – the ousted president, the Convicted-Plunderer himself.
The event turned out to be the launching of Jose de Venetia’s book written by Brett Decker titled “Global Filipino: The Authorized Biography of Jose de Venecia, Jr., the Visionary Five-Time Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines” -- a rather lengthy title for a biography of a relatively short man and which as Erap himself complained, was as kilometric and as nakakasakit ng ulo as JDV’s speeches. It was a star-studded event. I immediately recognized Tita Cory in red dress, Gina de Venecia also in red dress, Sen. Ernesto Maceda, Former Vice-President Teofisto Guingona, Cong. Ronaldo Zamora, Former Sen. Francisco Tatad and former Ambassador to U.N. Lauro Baja. Of course, the subject of the biography, JDV himself, was the picture of a most gracious host dutifully announcing the presence of his guests before the throng of crowd.
“Kiko!” a familiar voice yelled. The voice was from a lawyer-friend, a neighbor in my condominium community. He was, like the other heavyweight guests, in a dark suit.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’m one of Erap’s lawyers,” he proudly declared. “Come, join us,” he said.
And so, I found myself listening to politicians’ speeches, got to elbow and pressed hands with some of them, even got to make beso-beso with one of the missus… and felt tremendously sorry for the nation after.
My take on Tita Cory’s mea culpa:
I can understand she regrets the fact that it was GMA who succeeded Erap but I can never agree with her that we should regret Edsa Dos, too. I can agree that GMA is more corrupt than Erap but that doesn’t mean Erap wasn’t corrupt either. In fact, we see GMA as more corrupt now only because GMA is already on her eighth year as president; Erap only had three years. None of these to mean Erap didn't deserve to be ousted. On the other hand, all of these to mean GMA deserves to be ousted, too. A more corrupt president does not exculpate the sins of another corrupt president.
Did Erap do wrong things to this country? Yes. Did he use the presidency for his personal interests and vices -- the midnight Cabinet, ‘jueteng,’ womanizing, mansions? Yes. Did he deserve to be ousted in Edsa Dos? Definitely yes!
Is GMA corrupt, too? By all accounts, yes. Is she using the presidency for her personal interests – NBN-ZTE deal, Fertilizer scam, Hello Garci, bribery of public officials, attempt on the life of Jun Lozada, etc.? Yes. But does that mean we should now regret Edsa Dos, that we ousted Erap?
Hell, no! That only means we should oust GMA, too! Edsa Dos and ousting Erap was the right thing to do. And so we did. Ousting GMA is now the right thing to do, too. And so we should!
Now let me share with you what I felt during the launching of JDV’s book itself. I was watching JDV and Erap, former bitter presidential rivals, lock arms, almost like lovers. Former Vice-President Tito Guingona who snowballed the impeachment against Erap through his “I accuse” speech was in a jovial banter with Erap himself. Senator Ernesto Maceda was lovey-dovey with former Senator Francisco Tatad. And of course, on top of these, Tita Cory, one of the leaders of Edsa Dos that ousted Erap, was making beso-beso with Erap himself.
My God, I prayed, these people are playing with my country, turning it into a circus for the amusement of the elite. God help the
