Blind

When I was a little kid, I used to get bullied often. Almost every time I came home from school, I was in tears. If I wasn’t teased and insulted, I got hit and smacked by bigger kids. On some days, I got the “best” of both worlds.

I was small for my age, and this was one of the reasons my classmates thought less of me. For many years, I was the shortest one in every class I attended, except my final year in high school. To say that I got fed up with all the hurtful names I was called would be an understatement.

If not for my handicap in height, I was sneered and jeered at for not wearing the latest Nikes, Air Jordans, or not having the latest toys or gadgets. Back then, I was made to understand that because we were not rich, I wouldn’t be able to have all the luxuries my well-off classmates enjoyed. I didn’t mind at all. I didn’t want cool sneakers or a collection of the latest comic books, or a game boy. I just wanted to be respected.

Nobody came to my defense during those most tumultuous times, apart from my mom. One day my mom was asked by my adviser to drop by the school. She talked with the parents of one of the kids who bullied me. It was a big disappointment. Instead of disciplining their kid, they even came to his defense, and ended up justifying the wrongdoing. What I didn’t understand was that even though they knew their son was bullying some defenseless kid, they didn’t make an effort to correct his bad behavior. In short, instead of making everything better, things got worse.

Ah yes, that was my firsthand experience that people have a penchant for turning a blind eye on iniquity.

A few years ago, when Chavit Singson broke the news that deposed President Joseph Estrada was the biggest Jueteng lord in the country, and was making Malacanang a Gangster’s Paradise, the Filipino people were outraged. What citizen in his or her right mind would not cry out in protest against a thug of a president who was raking in millions from an illegal numbers game, and using taxpayers’ money to empty bottles of Johnny Walker Blue Label (which costs more than 6,000 bucks a bottle, by the way) every night with his Midnight Cabinet and drinking until the wee hours of the morning in the presidential palace no less? There was a growing clamor for him to step down, and rightfully so. But as always, there were those people, who, despite of the glaring atrocity committed, chose to defend Estrada at all costs, with disastrous consequences.

I watched in awe as the Senators who aggressively shielded Estrada from the people’s rage, cheered and danced in celebration after they won the vote not to open the infamous second envelope during the Impeachment Trial. The sight of Tessie Aquino-Oreta sashaying around on TV in plain view of about millions of viewers was enough to make my skin crawl.

I realized that there are people who don’t give a damn about the truth or seeking justice, as long as they are bound to a person, regardless of how wicked he or she is.

Now, with the present political turmoil we are in, this fact is even more patent.

Fast-forward a few years to Estrada’s successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. One would think that her penchant for lying- made evident when she swore on Jose Rizal’s grave that she would not run again to end the country’s divisiveness, but broke her promise anyway- would make people think twice about voting for her. One would think that her brazen support for George W. Bush’s murderous war against terror (a war that even the late Pope John Paul II had been actively fighting against) that has proved nothing- even the empty claim that Saddam was hiding weapons of mass destruction- would make people see her as the puppet and bootlicker that she is. One would think that her husband’s crooked ways- being involved in the Jose Pidal controversy, the Jueteng controversy, and staying in a one million peso a night suite in Las Vegas- would make people see that she would do anything to protect her corrupt spouse. One would think that turning our country into a deeper hellhole than it once was economic-wise despite the irony of being an economist herself, would make people see what an incompetent leader she really is. One would think that by admitting that she talked to a Comelec official (which she appointed despite having a history of cheating) and apologizing half-heartedly for this, and being caught red-handed for manipulating election results, everyone would ask her to have pity on the Filipino people, answer for her crimes, and step down from the presidency.

Sadly, as I’ve said, people have a penchant for turning a blind eye on iniquity.

In our family, I am the only one seeking GMA’s resignation. And I’m not surprised at all. My father, like me, was among those who wanted Erap to resign during his time. My mother, siblings, and other relatives also share the same view. But when GMA’s façade was stripped off, revealing the scoundrel that she really was, my once vocal father did not issue even a squeak. My siblings and relatives followed suit. And I don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why they suddenly kept mum amidst all the blatant offenses GMA has committed. It’s a simple equation, really: GMA replaced Erap, therefore they have become GMA supporters. And being GMA supporters, they choose to ignore every wrongdoing our fraudulent president commits.

Some say that it’s not as simple as that. Those who have refrained from joining the calls for GMA’s resignation say that Noli de Castro is not ready to assume the presidency. Yes, it is a very sound argument. But that just goes to show that you reap what you sow. They shouldn’t have voted for a newsreader as vice-president in the first place.

Many cringe at the idea that Susan Roces, FPJ’s widow, would replace GMA. Yes, in my opinion, Ms. Roces does not have the capability to run this country. She is a former actress with no political experience whatsoever, and like De Castro, would not be a good president. But that doesn’t mean we should forget all of GMA’s crimes. That doesn’t mean we should accept GMA’s apology without letting her suffer the consequences of her actions. That does not mean we should continue to support GMA, despite the growing clamor for her resignation coming from the masses, the middle class, the business sector, and some people from various religious sectors.

They say that it is very difficult to wake someone pretending to be asleep, more so than waking someone genuinely asleep.

Then how in God’s name can we ask people who are pretending to be blind, to open their eyes?