On Sison
Posted by Jae on August 31, 2007
Funny how many of those calling for the release of Joma Sison have argued their case by citing a chronology of instances wherein the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines had found himself the victim of state harassment and politically motivated charges. There can be no denying that one President after another have tried to bring him down and seek his defeat, many times through means that flout due process principles and human rights values. For these instances, Sison has every right to seek recompense.
The onus of Sison’s supporters, however, is not simply to prove that a pattern exists. For indeed, that’s all they’ve been doing. The burden is for them to prove that this latest arrest fits into the pattern.
From the looks of it, it doesn’t. The bare-bones truth is that the case leading to this arrest was filed by two grieving widows who simply wanted justice for the deaths of their husbands. No mud has been slung on these women because no mud can be slung. They are not assets of the military, they do not work for the government, they have for the past several years lived simple and quiet lives. Joy Kintanar’s short statement is level-headed and devoid of the frothing-in-the-mouth anti-communist rhetoric that Sison’s supporters would have pounced upon: due process for Joma, truth, justice for Rolly. No comment on the peace process, no denouncing of the evils of communism and the Marxist-Leninst-Maoist ideology of the National Democratic Front.
So GMA rode on the issue. She was beside herself with glee, as though probable cause of Joma’s complicity in the murders of Rolly Kintanar and Art Tabara would exculpate her from the thousands of brazen extra-judicial killings against Bayan Muna members. Everyone with a modicum of logic and good sense should hate her by now. I know I do. But this doesn’t detract from the legitimacy of the quest for justice of Joy Kintanar and Inca Tabara.
The formulation is simple. It stands on no other ideology but simple justice and basic truth. Presidents who order the killings and disappearances of activists and journalists should be punished to the full extent of their criminal responsibility. Leaders of rebel groups who order the assassination of former members of their organization (or for that matter, orchestrate the murder and torture of comrades suspected to be deep penetration agents), should be punished to the full extent of their criminal responsibility.
People accused of murder should face trial. People proven to have murdered should have their ass hauled to jail.
Justice for Karen Empeno. Justice for Sheryl Cadapan. Justice for Jay Burgos. Justice for Rolly Kintanar. Justice for Art Tabara. Justice for the nameless, faceless victims of Kahos, Missing Link, Cadena de Amor.
What’s so complicated about that?
jordan said
Friend ko yung step-daughter ni Rolly Kintanar.
Her real dad was THE Ed Jopson student activist murdered during Marcos’ time. My friend never got to meet him since she was still in her mom’s womb when he died. Ka Rolly acted like her own father and then they lost him to this. Heartbreaking di ba? More so for her mom.
The Unlawyer » Giving Credit Where It’s Due said
[...] the blogosphere, Jae Fever explains why the supporters of the detained Jose Maria Sison will find it impossible to demonize [...]
kulas said
kasama ba dito sa pagnanasa mo ng “justice for …” ang mga naging biktima ng mga may kulay na pula?
Jae said
jordan: oo nga. while everyone gnashes their teeth over ideology, the orphans and widows weep in silence.
kulas: um, hindi ba sina rolly kintanar at art tabora na nga yon? and when i referred to the “nameless, faceless victims of kahos, missing link, cadena de amor” ang tinutukoy ko po doon ay mga biktima ng NPA purges. patuloy po ang panawagan para sa katarungan para sa kanila at sa kanilang mahal sa bahay.
kulas said
‘day parang may shade of pink ang tone ng sison piece mo kasi.
violent dispersal said
A poem for every ‘incurable tyrant and king’. From the fascist old left to the most rabid right.
E
=================================================================
To the Evil Men of the World
by James Miraflor
Evil men.
There might be no hell,
but we’ll spit on your graves
forever.
You may not taste
the wrath of the common men
now, nor would your
sons and tens of their
would-be sons, but your
kind would nonetheless
get what is due them, as
it is written in the destiny
of all evil kinds.
Even so, the revenge
will not even be painful
like the brutality you had
caused us. The revenge of
the common man will be
straightforward and unpretentious;
there will be no triumphant
executions, no pugnacious
castigations.
Our revenge will be simple,
as the punishment of history had
always been simple:
No one will remember your
estate. The concept of crime against
property will be forgotten.
There will be no transgression
against privately-owned governments,
no price-tag for, or rationing of,
human right to dignity.
No one will remember your
system, as your injustice would
have ended with our desire for
reprisal. There will be no
need for state-imposed death,
no “rehabilitation” to any
ideology, no totalitarian
control for capitalist “liberty”
or socialist “equality”.
No one will remember your
kind. The idea of an oppressing
class, in any of its name, will be
alien, even unimaginable. By then
men will live, in solidarity
and freedom, the logic of the
market and revolution replaced by
the language of peace.
And no. No one will remember
evil. For your species, the embodiment
of everything that is evil, would
have ceased to exist.
And that would be our vilest spit
on your graves.
gari said
ateng,
“um, hindi ba sina rolly kintanar at art tabora”
hehehe tabora talaga…iba yata yun ah. hehehhe.
sometimes, hypocrisy is for hypocrisy sake kaya.
gari
Jae said
tabara nga. kasi kung tabora, aba’y si edwin yon. wawa naman. :p
Current » Why the Dutch are being harsh said
[...] the many cases Sison’s faced (and sometimes, though not always, won) is, however, disputed by JAE FEVER, who says past cases are beside the point: There can be no denying that one President after another [...]