Filipinos must make the right choices at election time to prevent the country from falling into the pit of utter damnation
An uphill struggle to relish hopes and joys of Easter
The Lenten season comes and goes unnoticed. In the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, it becomes more visible as the season culminates with the commemoration of Holy Week. On Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, huge crowds flock to churches.
Now that Holy Week has arrived, a deeper reflection on the significance of the Lenten season on the day-to-day lives of Filipino people will give it a profound meaning and provide us a better appreciation of it.
At the end of March, the Philippines concluded the commemoration of Women’s Month, an annual observance intended to recognize the contribution of Filipino women in society. For this Lenten season, let us examine the situation of Filipino women and see if it is consistent with the recognition and praise they deserve.
Looking at the day-to-day lives of female family members of victims of enforced disappearances, who receive the catastrophic impact of this cruelest form of human rights violation, we see the parallelism of their lives with that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Sorrows, who had to witness her son’s persecution, crucifixion and death.
Wives of the disappeared, some of whom witnessed the abductions of their husbands, live with the constant trauma of utter helplessness after failing to save them from the perpetrators. Their daughters grow up with no fathers. Some of them, especially those who do not understand the context of their fathers’ enforced disappearance, feel abandoned.
Mothers of the disappeared, whose children were plucked from the bosom of their families, survive with an indelible scar brought about by pain of loss and of uncertainty
On important occasions, daughters of the disappeared normally feel envious of their friends who enjoy the company of both their parents. Mothers of the disappeared, whose children were plucked from the bosom of their families, survive with an indelible scar brought about by pain of loss and of uncertainty.
Where are they? It is a nagging question that remains unanswered for as long as the fate and whereabouts of the victims are unknown.
In decades of work with family members of the disappeared not only in my country but in many other parts of the world, I have learned the sad reality that the search for the truth by women whose loved ones were taken from them by supposed protectors of the law is almost always endless.
Very few found their loved ones — alive or dead. So elusive is closure that families of victims continue to wait without knowing for how long.
When asked about her reflections on this Lenten season, Daisy Valerio, former secretary-general of the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) and a wife of Nilo Valerio, who disappeared during the Marcos regime, humbly said: “My suffering is nothing compared to that of Mother Mary.”
She added: “Women who lost their loved ones to enforced disappearance derive strength and inspiration from the mother of Jesus.”
On the first Good Friday, Jesus was condemned, persecuted, made to carry the Cross, ridiculed, whipped, fell three times, met his mother, helped by Simon to carry the cross, wiped by Veronica, stripped of his garments.
His ordeal was a glaring demonstration of abuse of authority and power and of the callousness of those who participated in his crucifixion.
Children have been orphaned due to the brutal deaths of their fathers. Mothers have lost their children on the mere suspicion of them being drug users, dealers and pushers
There should be no room for the same extrajudicial execution that Christ painfully underwent in a country like ours which claims to have commemorated its 501st year of Christianity.
Yet, not unknown to many, the present administration has callously killed thousands of Filipinos who, in the name of drugs, were condemned to death without due process.
Wives have been widowed because of the extrajudicial killings of their husbands. Children have been orphaned due to the brutal deaths of their fathers. Mothers have lost their children on the mere suspicion of them being drug users, dealers and pushers. These consequently mean not only loss of lives but also of sources of livelihoods for the victims who are deprived of their lives, jobs, loved ones and everything they hold dear.
Now in the sixth and last year of the Rodrigo Duterte administration, this “war on drugs,” his flagship campaign that catapulted him to power in 2016 under the slogan “Change is Coming,” continues to make changes, for the worse, to the lives of the poor, who will unlikely see the truth or an ounce of justice.
The victims did not and will not get any sympathy from the highest official of the land. On the contrary, Duterte, in a press conference in September 2016, boastfully said “Hitler massacred three million Jews … there are three million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them.”
Every victim signifies untold suffering, especially the surviving women. A mother of a victim of extrajudicial killing, Nanette Castillo, had this to say:
“My Holy Week reflection revolves around the killing of my son, Aldrin. The longer this takes, the more painful is the wound in my heart. I am utterly disappointed by our justice system. Inside me, I feel intense anger and hatred against the unpunished criminals who have become financially well off due to their involvement in the ‘war on drugs.’ I despise their heartlessness. They are the Pontius Pilates and the Pharisees of our time.
“A mother can never forget the child who came from her womb, whom she nurtured and loved with all her heart and soul. There were times when the memory of him made me smile. But there were more times when this memory filled me with tears. My healing takes very long. Perhaps, I can no longer heal. This is the cross that, while weeping, I will carry for as long as I live — a cross made by people who have no respect for other people’s lives.”
A Marcos-Duterte victory will shamefully paint a dark image of stupidity on the Filipino people who ousted the dictator 36 years ago during the People Power Revolution in February 1986
Nanette is only one among the thousands of women who continue to feel the vacuum of the loss of their loved ones and who, during this Holy Week, will certainly empathize with the very lamentations of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
National and local elections will be held on May 9. When Filipinos flock to the polls to elect new leaders, Duterte’s six-year rule will come to an end at the end of June.
The son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., is running for president with vice presidential candidate and Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte.
A Marcos-Duterte victory will shamefully paint a dark image of stupidity on the Filipino people who ousted the dictator 36 years ago during the People Power Revolution in February 1986. It will shatter all remaining hopes for a better Philippines that the next generations deserve.
In anticipation of the triumphant end of the Lenten season, Filipinos must make the right choices. Making informed and intelligent choices that prevent the country from falling into the pit of utter damnation is their moral responsibility.
Filipinos deserve to relish the hopes and joys that Easter brings.
* The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.
