Momentum ni Leni

NARATING na ni BBM ang tuktok ng kanyang katanyagan. Pabulusok na lahat. Wala ng iaakyat ang kanyang kandidatura. Samantala, patuloy ang pag-angat ng kandidatura ni Leni. Malakas ang momentum ng kanyang kandidatura. Mukhang hindi basta mapipigil.

Wala kaming nakikitang mas matibay na dahilan upang mapigil ni BBM ang lakas ng daluyong ng kandidatura ni Leni. Maliban sa nagsama-sama ang mandarambong ng kaban ng bayan sa likod ng kandidatura ni BBM, wala ng iba. Samantala, patuloy na umaani si Leni sa suporta sa iba’t ibang organisasyon sa buong bansa. Kamakailan, nagdeklara ng suporta si Mindoro Occidental Rep. Josephine Sato sa tambalang Leni-Kiko. Kasama niyang sumuporta ang mga local officials ng kanyang lalawigan.

Marami pang maaaring mangyari sa loob ng isang buwan bago ang halalan. Hindi nakakasiguro si BBM. Pinakamalaking problema ng bayan ang Comelec dahil kaya nitong mandaya bilang institusyon. Hindi ordinaryong pandaraya kundi matinding pandaraya. Kailangan ihanda natin ang ating sarili sa mga magaganap. Kasama diyan ang malawakang pandaraya at pagsiklab ng karahasan. Nakakatakot ang scenario.

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HINDI biro ang aming hirap upang buuin ang aming aklat “KILL KILL KILL: EJKs in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity vs. Duterte Et. Al. At the ICC.” Kinalap namin ang mga dokumento hindi sa madugo ngunit nabigong digmaan kontra droga ni Duterte. Halaw:

As mass violence intensified the ballyhooed war on drugs, a member of the European Union Parliament quietly arrived in Manila in the early morning of one balmy day in September, 2016 to get a complete picture of the war on drugs. Unbeknownst to the Duterte government, the European parliamentarian was part of a group of European lawmakers, whom their Parliament assigned to validate reports of mass murder in the Philippines. The European parliamentarian broke protocol to get in touch with the democratic political opposition and other stakeholders, including the Legal Left, which was in a dilemma on its informal alliance with the Duterte government at that time. The European lawmaker had a one-on-one talk with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who was in the last half of his second six–year term of office. The two lawmakers met in a quiet hotel and had vigorous exchanges of views that centered on reports of human rights violations under the infamous Project Double Barrel. It was not known if the European lawmaker met any other member of the democratic political opposition. It could be surmised that the meeting took place because Trillanes was one of the most vocal opposition leaders against the bloody war on drugs during those days.

The dialogue was straightforward, as the two lawmakers sat for at least two hours of intense talks. At the outset, the European parliamentarian expressed grave concern over the reported mass violence, where thousands of people allegedly involved in drug use and trafficking were murdered with impunity. Trillanes was not surprised with the European lawmaker’s concern. In his seven and a half year of incarceration as one of the leaders of the failed 2004 Oakwood mutiny, Trillanes knew from his extensive readings while in jail that Europe suffered the brunt of the two destructive world wars in the first half of the 20th century. Trillanes knew the emergence of the madman in Adolf Hitler, who almost conquered the whole of Europe. The European parliamentarian had nothing but empathy for the Filipino people, who elected Duterte as president. Trillanes said the summary executions had violated the constitutional precepts on equal protection of the law and presumption of innocence. There was no due process of law, he noted. There was no rule of law, he added.

The European lawmaker was not content to listen to Trillanes’s narrative of the local condition from the lens of the democratic opposition. It could be presumed that he did not travel thousands of miles and spent time, resources, and efforts to listen to the opposition gripes. He slowly but surely unveiled his purpose and adroitly navigated the intricate web of diplomatic talks. The parliamentarian, whom Trillanes did not identify because he promised him protection, gave the decent proposal that would lead him to start the immediate filing of crimes against humanity against Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Reconstructing from Trillanes’s memory, their conversation proceeded this way:6

EUROPEAN UNION PARLIAMENTARIAN: You should not feel helpless with what your president has been doing to your people. I am not bound here by diplomatic niceties, but I propose that you take immediate actions.

ANTONIO F. TRILLANES IV: I understand, Your Honor. But how? May I have the pleasure of hearing any suggestions?

EU PARLIAMENTARIAN: I suggest that you go to the International Criminal Court since the local justice system, as you have said, could not function anymore. Go and file charges of crimes against humanity against Duterte and his people engaged in that war against the Filipino people.

ANTONIO F. TRILLANES IV: I must confess that I am not familiar with the ICC’s operations. But this is a proposal worth exploring, Your Honor.

EU PARLIAMENTARIAN: Study the ICC and its operations. But you have to start immediately because the process takes long. The charges against Duterte may or may not prosper, Your Honor. But you have big chances that it would prosper. It is worth trying to stop Duterte from his track.

HIS fateful meeting with the unidentified European parliamentarian solidified his view that not much could be expected from the domestic criminal justice system and that he had to take the bull by its horns by going to the international criminal justice system to settle the raging issue of mass violence in Duterte’s war on drugs. He knew Duterte, although a lawyer, was pursuing an illegal drug war that had no respect for the rule of law and due process. Being a former soldier and not a lawyer, Trillanes confessed his disadvantage because he had to vet the proposal. He asked the Magdalo Party List and his legislative staff to conduct complete staff work and determine the possible filing of charges against Duterte before the ICC. The anti-drug war, the centerpiece program of the Duterte government, had to be stopped on its bloody and deadly track. There was no turning back.

In over a month of complete staff work that sapped the energy of his Magdalo colleagues and legislative staff, the results came out positive and conclusive. It was possible to file crimes against humanity against Duterte and his cohorts before the ICC. There was basis to make him responsible for those killings. The democratic opposition could bring it before the world body. But when he consulted his colleagues in the Senate on the possibility to join forces in the first ever complaint against Duterte before the ICC, he was disappointed with their reactions. They were reluctant to join him. They were hesitant to go against the flow, warning they did not want to get involved because Duterte, whom they already thought was a madman during those days, could and would retaliate. They were fearful of reprisals. Fear was clearly etched in their hearts.

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MGA PILING SALITA: “Only dead fish go with the flow.” – Richard Burton

“A favorite Tagalog word is ‘unawa’ or to understand. Root word: ‘awa,’ meaning ‘mercy,’ ‘pity,’ or ‘compassion.’ ‘Unawa’ recognizes that understanding is inseparable from compassion. We seek to understand out of care. We care and thus seek to understand.” – Pamela Cajilig, netizen

“Hinihiya si Leni kasi take 2 sa bar? Kung bawal ang second chances, wala sana tayong Pia Wurtzbach na 3x sumubok sa Bb Pilipinas. O Persida Acosta na 3x nag-take ng bar. At wala ring Bongbong na tinalo ni Leni nang tatlong beses.” – Ogie Rosa, netizen