1 + 2 ÷ 3 x R = 1ⁿ

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
8/22/2005



Edsa 1 and Edsa 2, divided by Edsa 3 multiplied by the spirit of reconciliation equals a people united to the nth power; provided the R is genuine and principle-based, not out of political exigency. Mike Velarde’s attempt was doomed to failure, as many believe it was as a desperation move by GMA. Even Senator Aquilino Pimentel, who sat as co-chair at Erap’s impeachment, warned that “Gloria knows that she is in danger of being unseated but by reconciling with Erap, that might give her time to maneuver and upset the moves to unseat her momentarily…”

Pimentel has since reconciled with Estrada, and without quid pro quo. He did so by attesting to the fact that when he actually did open the infamous “second envelope” he discovered that it contained nothing that implicated President Joseph Estrada in the Jose Velarde account case, and he publicly announced his finding. Senator Pimentel has willingly appeared in the documentary “Eruption, Hello Garci” to state his exoneration of Erap in this case.

If GMA’s reconciliation were genuine she would first admit to all the wrongs she has done to Estrada; and she would admit the wrongs she has done too to the nation. It would take moral courage to do this, something Gloria has shown little of compared to the political guts she feigns to display. Estrada has stood his ground despite four years of privation, just to look his accusers in the eyes. Some belittle his privations pointing to his “gilded jail”, forgetting that he has actually been kidnapped during detention (from Vetrans to Camp Aguinaldo) and could have been liquidated during the Oakwood mutiny.

The pleasant conditions at his Tanay rest house does not recall the claustrophobic Veterans Hospital, Sta. Rosa and Camp Capinpin quarters at various times. Ninoy also had several years in Boston free to roam and meet relatives, friends and political associates. To this day, those who visit Estrada have to be screened and selected by GMA’s police. By the way, Estrada’s Tanay detention is not out of the goodness of GMA’s heart but due to pressures on her for a respectful treatment of a leader of the land, in the same manner as Suharto and Aung San Suu Kyi.

There is a broader and more important plane to the reconciliation issue, and that’s about national reconciliation. Mike Velarde has been pressed to attempt the ill-fated Estrada-GMA handshake is the schism in his own El Shaddai ranks. The Pro-Erap versus the small Pro-GMA factional strife in El Shaddai has aggravated over the years, and Velarde’s flock and collections have been suffering in the process. This situation is multiplied in every level of community in the country, one can say that the injustice to Estrada plagues the rest of the land.

National reconciliation is a vital goal today, without it our drift and decay will continue. Justice and freedom for Estrada is symbolic of the justice and freedom the nation seeks from economic and neo-colonial imprisonment too. Yet, instead of helping bring this about the traditionally recognized leaders are sabotaging hopes. Cory Aquino is touted as a leader with some moral standing, but for all the piety attributed to her Cory has not elevated the national discussion on reconciliation. She keeps a dog buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani and refuses honors for Marcos there.

Instead of inspiring GMA to better behavior she has conflicted with her, identifying herself with the pro-EVAT Hyatt 10 which is now as distrusted by the public as GMA is disdained. FVR and Joe de Vee have made ther present crises and opportunity to insert their desire to impose the parliamentary system and open Filipino land and patrimony to foreign ownership through the Con-Ass and Cha-Cha through “modernization of economic provisions”. All these have only alienated them from the Filipino people even more.

Yet, there is hope for genuine national reconciliation; coming from those who have the interest and welfare of this nation at heart which is the overriding principle that transcends all political exigencies or convenience. You will recognize them by their refusal to compromise and insistence on the essence of things. Such as Estrada standing pat on the constitutionality of his presidency and his fight in the Sandiganbayan for complete vindication, or Susan Roces Poe who utters only words brutally faithful to truth that she scares hypocrites and pretender off. Both have extended their hands out for unity.

At another level 1 + 2 ÷ 3 x R = 1ⁿ is already happening: Linggoy Alcuaz and I were Edsa I, then he was Edsa 2 and I Edsa 3 but we’re together now. More and more are becoming like us. Even the Left is working with the combination of Edsa I, II and III forces, and “civil society” is rubbing its eyes to discern black from white. More and more student leaders are catching on to a historical truth about Philippine society’s fall and the failures of the Edsa “people power”, and who want answers from concepts such as the “caretaker government” and “blueprint for a new Philippines”.

Summing up the historical lessons as the basis for national reconciliation will start a chain reaction leading to the rise to the Nth power of this nation.

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