I interviewed Sen. Joker Arroyo, whose defense of human rights is his platform for reelection. I ask why he has been silent, and why he chooses to still run with Team Unity whose figurehead is GMA. He is offended. He was the first to speak against Palparan, he says, and the one who continually rails against human rights violations.
There are other issues, there are other issues, he repeats, labor and finance and education, and a whole host of other matters. Why must his performance on the political killings be a standard by which I should judge him? He tells me, at the end of his rant, that he expects me to be objective. I tell him I cannot be, as I am not a reporter, I’m a columnist with my own biases. And he is angry, and he walks out and tells me to do what I want.
And here I will tell you why I ask that question, why I believe that condemning political killings is the highest priority. I agree that there are other issues. I agree that labor and the economy and a thousand other matters must be considered. I believe, however, that this issue is at the forefront; and that condemning is far different from acting; and that men like Joker Arroyo, by virtue of both their records and their claims, cannot afford to be neutral in their actions, if not their words.
Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel says that during the massacre of the Jews, “the world did know [what was happening] and remained silent.”
“We must take sides,” he says. “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the universe.”
Exactly, Patricia. And Boy, Mr. Human Rights lawyer is touchy re the extra-judicial killings issue, isnt he?
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Walkouts must be the thing nowadays. Lozano walked out on Pia Hontiveros and FVR turned his back on an ABS-CBN reporter during the Lakas-CMD convention. I suppose they learned it from GMA when she walked out of her very own press con.
Taking the easy way out.
Hah - good reference Schumey, " I suppose they learned it from GMA when she walked out of her very own press con."
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