Saturday, July 10, 2010

FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio

IS THERE HOPE FOR JUSTICE?



The return of those who escaped from the Arroyo brand of justice such as the renegade marine of the Oakwood Mutiny, Lt. Faeldon, and former Agriculture secretary Cito Lorenzo sends a very good signal for President Noynoy Aquino’s campaign against corruption and injustice. If or when Senator Panfilo Lacson voluntarily appears from hiding to confront his accusers, the best of the new Philippine government is yet to come. Let us hope.

Everyone and everything have their own time in this world. In the political sense, the minorities symbolized by the election of the first African-American president, Barack Obama, are experiencing some semblance of recognition in the United States. Who died for this cause? Isn’t it Martin Luther King?

In the Philippines, those who fight for human rights and some who gave up their lives for it are experiencing some sort of rewards for their noble deeds. Among the known and unknown martyrs for the good fight for human rights, isn’t Ninoy Aquino the widely accepted icon for this cause? His only son, Noynoy, just got elected to the presidency with a big mandate from the people.

When I left the Philippines in the early 70s for a new life in the United States, I saw two human rights lawyers together somewhat waiting in a line for something inside a building. I greeted them cordially as former political science classmates at the University of the Philippines and they returned my greetings with a nice smile despite the recent imposition of martial law by Ferdinand Marcos. They were Jejomar Binay and Edcel Lagman.

Mr. Binay just got elected to the vice-presidency of the Philippines while Mr. Lagman still aspires to be the House Speaker. During the Arroyo regime, the two chummy-chummy human rights lawyers were no longer together politically. I believe they followed separate visions of the future.

Now the time for true justice in the Philippines has come. I hope again. For there is no substitute for hope but only hope. As mere mortals, the “powers that be” are subject to the highest power from Above, God.

With hope comes action and I urge every believer in justice to pray and work together that justice prevails under the new Aquino regime.

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