By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

I was told that the Senate hearing on the subject of extra-judicial killings (EJKs) is a waste of money. This is because the hearing was literally hijacked by former President Duterte with his curses. Senator Koko Pimentel, who chaired the session, no matter if he acted neutral, was not able to steer the discussion into the neutrality expected of a Senate hearing. The investigation became a platform for the former president to expound on the glory of his administration, obfuscating the narrative of the victims of EJK during his term.

The Duterte camp was well-prepared. The defensive team filled the gallery with supporters who cheered the former President, reminiscent of the methodology employed by the Marcoses. They maneuvered the flow of the session, allowing him to speak first, without the usual presentation of the context of the hearing, muting the voices of the victims. The President himself was quick to sidestep answering the questions, by raising his voice, cursing, like he was still in power. Citizen Ricardo R. Casco lamented, “Justice is so expensive. So much time, resources, emotions, and institutional attention over an EJKing. I can’t find words for disbelief, he is adored for his sins.”

Former Senator Ping Lacson commented, “Only one consistently and steadfastly stood up to preserve the dignity of the Philippine Senate. She happens to be a woman who answers, “present” during a roll call. Her name: Risa Hontiveros.” Sonny Trillanes IV agrees: “The only bright spot in yesterday’s Senate hearing was Sen. Rita’s standing up to the evil duts. Yan ang leader! Matapang! Matalino! Magaling!”

 Yes, Senator Risa Hontiveros stood up against the former President’s tactics, and the maneuvering by the Duterte defense team which Senator Koko Pimentel as chair, was unable to strategically respond to, apparently overwhelmed by his bombastic bluster that subconsciously pushes one into submission. In Risa, I’ve witnessed true grit. The kind of grit one sees in former Senator Leila de Lima and former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, whose careers were unjustly terminated under the Duterte administration. These are women who did not threaten, curse or use a gun to prove their strength and to take on life with integrity, after a severe beating.

Courage is rare, even among the best in the Senate, the kind of courage described by Nelle Harper Lee, author of the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”: “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” This strength in character is described in Maya Angelou’s poem, Phenomenal Woman: “Now you understand/ Just why my head’s not bowed./ I don’t shout or jump about/ Or have to talk real loud./ When you see me passing,/ It ought to make you proud.”

Women have a choice, to stand up or to take garbage in: 

I listened, to his curses
even when they told me,
nothing would come out of it
and nothing came out of it
except a lynching
where the lie killed the truth
cheering Barabbas

 To stand up is to wake up in the morning, greet the universe with love, breathe gently, let the wind whisper the softest whisper in your ear, be in the presence of the heavens. Sway in the cosmic hymn that binds humanity.  Gather energy in the silence. Listen to the voice of God. And act.

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