Signe et Santa

By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
12 December 2010

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Undoubtedly, the 378 politico-military actors who staged the classic war epic that did not hit the Malacanang box office during the Arroyo years will be released before Christmas; the 43 community health workers suspected to be rebels in the classic military literature maybe; and the detained hundreds of OFWS suspected to be offenders of the Islamic laws of countries of host may never be.

These stories will, without any single skepticism, become classical precedence. Will keep my fingers crossed!

When President Aquino attended the ASEAN Summit in Hanoi this year, he requested the Prime Minister of Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi, a democracy icon just like his mother. Although it took days after Suu Kyi was released, undeniably again, his request has had impact on it.

These politically troubled mutineers cried for release after their failed adventurism. Their plea was “not guilty” and their basis the constitution; their proverbial conviction: They are protectors of the country. Foolish is this isle of corrupted, corruptive and corruptible men to believe that these government-fed “protectors of the country” cheated the people and threatened the stability of the government, literally and figuratively. What a noble act from ennobled men for a troubled nation of a socially confused race!

Nay, they will be freed soon.

On the other hand, the cry of Morong 43 seems to bawl an unwelcoming tune; their hunger strike did not even stir the political orchestra of the Imperial Palace. Their plea was “not guilty” and their basis foul play; their proverbial conviction: They are the protectors of human lives, of humans that provide healthy mandate to mentally-ill legislators and executives of an ailing democratic nation. Foolish is this isle of dirt controlled government of corrupted, corruptive and corruptible men to believe that these un-fatigue-able modern-day “Florence” were cheated and threatened by these “protectors of the country,” literally and figuratively. What a failure to recognize who is who; what a failure to believe which wrong was right, which right was wrong!

Hey, fair justice is what they deserve! No, it is not tomorrow, not after tomorrow but now!

The plight of these more than a hundred overseas contract workers detained elsewhere in the Middle East and of the world cry for help from the administration of Pres. Aquino. Their plea was “not guilty” and their basis unfair labor practices, unfair justice system for the expatriates; their proverbial conviction: delivery and performance of the contract, adherence to international human rights. Foolish are these states of men to believe that overseas Filipino contract workers do not perform the contract in good faith, do not follow the conservative rules of these nations. What a sad consequence; what a tragic loss of lives if the government fails to respond!

These modern-day heroes deserve more than their convictions.

Suu Kyi and the mutineers versus the Morong 43 and the OFWs: What peculiar, substantial and political difference does the President get from believing in the innocence of the former and the latter?

In his campaign, the young Aquino vowed for change. Where is it now? Is releasing these AFP functionalists a way to bring us to his promised change? Is keeping mum and insensitive about the plight of the Morong 43 a way to bring us to his desired change? Is the seeming indifference and reluctance of his administration about the plight of the overseas contract workers a way to bring us to his politically-colored change?

“Change” has been the most popular and super abused electoral promise of all times; it has become the classic word of political greed and a comfortable vehicle to personal gains expressed in a medium called “ballots”. Whew! What a better way to capture the naiveté of the Filipino masses, indeed!

Technically, change connotes defect. Which one is and which one is not?

Christmas is for everybody; even Islamic communities acknowledge that. It does not belong to these abusive members of the military who maliciously soiled their mandate and relationship with the government; nor does it to Suu Kyi only. It belongs more importantly to the Morong 43 and their families, and to the detained overseas Filipino workers and their families, too.

Everybody deserves the freedom to walk on God’s green earth notwithstanding how foolish mortals are in making trash of it. And so these creatures like the Morong 43 and the overseas Filipino workers do!

Whimsically, when Santa Claus gives gift, he does it to everybody; otherwise, he will be guilty of neglect: the worst of crimes most Christians commit.

Signe et Santa: If the latter does not happen, surely, the former does!