In search of the truth....

It has been almost a week, but I still have goosebumps when I think about the travesty Congress committed when it voted in favor of accepting the Justice Committee's report dismissing all three impeachment complaints filed against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

During the course of the almost 24-hour session at the House we were first hand witnesses to democracy in action. Unfortunately, we were also witnesses to how democracy can be manipulated into subverting the search for the truth through brute force use of sheer numbers. A majority of people speaking out lies or half-truths does not make those lies or half-truths any more palatable or any closer to the truth than if only a minority spoke them out. It was also a blatant example of people using the legal intricacies of our Constitution and the technical complications of the House rules as a means of hiding the truth.

There are members of the House of Representatives who justify the results of the votation by quoting the Latin maxim: "Dura Lex Sed Lex," which means to say that the law may be harsh, but the law is still the law. There are also other members who say that we are a government of laws and not of men, and as such, we should adhere to the principles of law and democracy by accepting the results which were a product of accepted rules and the will of the majority.

While I agree wholeheartedly with the precepts of law and democracy, in my humble opinion, these have NOT been exercised by Congress in a manner which represents the best interests of the country. To the Congressmen who voted yes to them I say: "Instruments of good such as law and democracy should never be used to further the cause of falsity and deceit." This is wholly my statement, and you can quote me on this. Frankly, I'm a bit appalled by the impression that one can be above the law if he or she has the numbers to back him or her up.

What people seem to misunderstand is that the filing of an impeachment complaint and it's subsequent transmittal to the Senate does NOT automatically mean that the impeached official is already guilty. Far from it actually. It means that the official in question is made to answer for certain accusations. It is during these proceedings that guilt can be established, or innocence proven. As a result of the junking of the impeachment complaints, we, the people, have been deprived of knowing for certain whether President Arroyo is guilty as the opposition claim her to be, or innocent, as those in the administration maintain.

And now, because of Congress' high-handedness, we may never know.

While I may not be strongly for or against Pres. Arroyo, I believe I have a right to know the truth about my President, and consequently, whether she is still fit to hold the highest, the most powerful office in the land. And I believe that everyone has that right. Congress has no right to force-feed beliefs about the President's innocence down my throat. I want an investigation, not character references. Especially not from people who have a lot to lose when the Arroyo administration goes under.

Consider this:

There are recorded conversations which clearly prove that Pres. Arroyo talked with a COMELEC official. This is already old news. This circumstance has already been established, and even the President herself has admitted, and even apologized for these indiscretions. The inadmissibility of the recordings notwithstanding, these conversations, without a shadow of a doubt, clearly took place. Why did she have to talk to a COMELEC official?

Malacañang has tried for several weeks to avoid the issue, and even attempted to cover it up by getting someone else to admit to being the one talking to the President in the recordings. There were also other attempts to suppress the spread of the recordings, to manipulate the recordings, and to mislead the public about its contents. What are they trying to hide?

The COMELEC official is still in hiding. What is he trying to hide?

There are accusations that Pres. Arroyo orchestrated the filing and endorsement of the controversial Lozano complaint. Former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman, for all her competence as a former cabinet member, is already damaged goods. A person who squeals in violation of her confidential relationship with her previous superior clearly shouts unethical behavior. However, it begs the question...what can she gain by sacrificing her ethics? What would drive an otherwise honorable person to spill her guts? And what else has she got to lose when she has lost everything, including her former prominent post?

Pres. Arroyo has publicly stated that she is willing to face her accusers in the proper forum. However, it is rumored that she had a hand in that fateful plenary session which saw the impeachment complaints crash and burn. Congressmen are supposed to represent their constituents, not their party affiliations or political leanings. Yet this list of how the individual solons voted say otherwise. Was this an accommodation? Was a bargain struck somewhere along the line?

Malacañang has offered a ceasefire of sorts from the political bickering and accusations. The President wants a ceasefire, yet she apparently refuses to be held accountable for her actions. The Palace is also proposing a moratorium on public demonstrations. Now she wants us to give up our constitutional rights to peaceful assembly as well?

Former President Corazon Aquino is asking Pres. Arroyo to step down. What has she got to gain from asking the President to resign? On the other hand, former President Fidel Ramos is supporting Pres. Arroyo. What has he got to gain from supporting the present administration?

You can draw your own conclusions, but for me, one thing is crystal clear. The truth has been bludgeoned, battered, lynched, beaten up, and placed in a small cell, locked away where no one can see it. Why? Simply because it threatens the very existence of the current administration. That's all there is to it. And there is no other possible explanation.

While the truth is still locked away somewhere, she pretends to ignore the possibility that it may be her continued stay in office that is actually pulling the country and the economy down. If she really loves the Philippines as she claims to, maybe she ought to consider making the supreme sacrifice and stepping down. What is one person's political ambition compared to the welfare of an entire nation?

This political bickering will never stop until the truth is set free, or she steps down from office. And it seems that she and her entire administration are intent on preventing both, one way or another.

Frankly, I'm tired of being taken for a fool. A lot of Filipinos are.

God help us all.

Quaere Verum.