THERE’S THE RUB
Let’s join the NPA
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer
First Posted 02:10am (Mla time) 07/24/2007
Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino says Jonas Burgos is really a member of the New People’s Army (NPA). He belongs to the NPA Front Committee 2 based in Bulacan province.
Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, spokesperson of the Army, corroborates: “When we looked at his background, we found sufficient reasons to believe, from documents and witnesses, that he has links with the NPA.”
What makes these statements the most idiotic things in the world?
First off, we have only the word of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), particularly the incredibly named Intelligence Service of the AFP, headed by someone called the “Emperor” -- unlike Nero, he doesn’t fiddle while Rome burns, he flings P500 bills during Christmas parties while people die -- that this is so. They can always say that Burgos is/was a member of the Abu Sayyaf Front Committee 3 1/2 based in Culi-Culi, or worse the Commission on Elections Front Commission 200 Percent based in Maguindanao province, and trot out all sorts of witnesses to prove it (in these days of high prices and high taxes they go for a dime a dozen), and none will be the wiser. At least no one can challenge it, and if they wanted to whom do they take their challenge to?
All this proves in fact is that as far as intelligence goes, we are completely at the mercy of these idiots.
Indeed, more than that, all it proves is that in this country, we do not only give the powers of judge, jury and executioner to the accuser, we give them to the accused. It was so when Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stood accused of stealing the vote: She judged herself innocent, ruled that the politics of hate was to blame, and punished herself by continuing to rule. And it is so now that the military stands accused of murdering Burgos: They have judged themselves innocent, ruled that Burgos was to blame, and punished themselves by being free to murder some more -- in more ways than one. It would be funny except that in this country, when you say that the accused has the powers of judge, jury and executioner, the executioner tends to be literal.
Still more than that, all it proves is that in lieu of relentlessly ferreting out wrongdoers, government ruthlessly stamps out witnesses. It was so then when Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani and Col. Alexander Balutan were court-martialed for offering testimony that Arroyo cheated. It is so now when prosecutor Manny Velasco was sacked for offering to prosecute several of “Emperor’s” men for the crime. This is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as told by them, the lot of them, and no one but them.
Second off, as Burgos’ kin and friends have pointed out, even if Jonas were NPA, what of it? Last they looked, there was no law that said a suspected NPA may be abducted and made to disappear, possibly forever. Last they looked, the law said citizens were presumed innocent until proven guilty.
What makes Tolentino’s and Torres’ statements especially dangerous, apart from idiotic, are the use of the word “front.” That makes political activists, party-list members, ex-detainees, NGO workers, Marxists, leftists, socialists, utopian idealists, reformists, reaffirmists, rejectionists, dead-serious materialists, cockeyed optimists, Rastafarians, and anyone wearing anything red or any hue thereof in any rally, forum, or family reunion an NPA. For which the punishment is death.
That is not something that could happen, that is something that is happening. Look at the number of the dead, among them kids barely able to have their first loves, and weep. They are NPA? With the antiterror law, expect the lines between armed and unarmed, dissenter and combatant, NPA and activist, to get more blurred and the body count to get more plentiful.
Last, and most importantly, well, Tolentino and Torres should really be commended -- by the NPA. They have just become the second and third best recruiters for them (Arroyo remains No. 1). If the NPA had decided to buy a full page in the Inquirer and made a pitch to add to their ranks, they couldn’t have done a better job.
We know that Jonas’ father, Joe, was also called a communist during Marcos’ time. For publishing the newspaper Malaya -- no publication during his watch could have been better named -- and for daring to come out with stories that revealed Ferdinand Marcos’ medals to be fake, Joe Burgos was tagged a communist by Marcos’ military. For which the punishment was death, and which would have been carried out had not God or Edsa People Power intervened. For helping to improve the lot of fellow farmers -- no one has been a better son to his father -- and for daring to join others in exposing Arroyo’s presidency as fake, Jonas Burgos has been tagged a communist by the dictator’s military. For which the punishment has been death -- alas, without God or Juan de la Cruz to stay its hand.
If all this has any lesson to impart, it is simply this: When this country starts calling too many people NPA, it does not have too many NPA, it has only one dictator.
Joe Burgos went on to reap not just the gratefulness of his nation but the appreciation of the world. He became one of the world’s top 100 journalists when the world celebrated the end of the last century -- and second millennium -- in 2000. Jonas Burgos may not reach such spectacular heights, but I do know he will go on to reap the gratefulness of the farmers he tried to help and the appreciation of the nation he served so well and proudly when this evil is over and justice -- no, sanity -- is restored to it. One day, he will, if posthumously, have a medal pinned to his chest, worth more than even the Medal of Honor they give to soldiers who go over and beyond the call of duty. He has wrought by far the more heroic deed. He has shown a willingness not just to die for democracy but to live for it.
Jonas Burgos is an NPA? Then by God, by Allah, and by Marx, let us all join the NPA.
Jonas Burgos is an NPA? Then by God, by Allah, and by Marx, let us all join the
Originally Posted by yeah111
Reply With Quote
Posting Permissions
