Don't believe what you see on TV

Senator Trillanes has once again out done himself. Right now, an APC is trying to wedge itself into Manila Pen’s doors as the senator holes himself again in yet another hotel and calls for people to join him in toppling the government. As much as I’d like to believe his sentiments and as much as I like and still respect Guingona (who for reasons I cannot comprehend is with the senator), his reasons for holing up in Manila Pen are rather questionable, to say the least. For starters, there’s his uncanny ability to choose five star hotels as headquarters for his rebellion (so much for our hotel safety image to tourists). Honasan did it once and suddenly five-star spots and coup-d’etats go hand in hand. With Oakwood gone, classy Manila Pen became the setting for the senator’s rally part deux.

With that done, Trillanes goes on to the business at hand. He calls the present government “illegitimate” because “it stole the presidency from Estrada”, and then ironically commits the same crime he’s charging GMA of by asking the people to join him in putting up a new government. This is obviously nothing more than a big show staged aptly for tomorrow’s Bonifacio Day in some attempt to paint the senator as some sort of hero. Unfortunately, unlike our heroes of yesteryear who had real issues to die for, Trillanes has nothing more than a personal grudge against the current administration. And that isn’t worth dying for. About 2 hours and a few tear gasses later, they agree to come out claiming that the government has no scruples because it does not care about the civilian journalists who were still in the hotel. (Again, he blurs fact with fiction, as the military had already asked the journalists to leave the hotel since they were going to attack it. Only the stubborn ones stayed.) At the end of the day, all we really got out of it was a character called Trillanes – who would do wonders in a reality TV show, a few teary-eyed journalists and a destroyed hotel lobby. No lives were lost and I doubt that Trillanes’ credibility would even waver in the eyes of his loyalist. To them, he is and will always be the freedom fighter he projects himself to be. Life goes on and people return to do their Christmas shopping.

I suppose the real casualty in the end is us. Another crazy wannabee takes over another hotel and we consent it. Estrada steals from the treasury and we pardon him. The Marcoses kill and plunge our country into 20 plus years of darkness and we thank them by electing them back into office. A few rugby boys kill a person and say “dahil sa kahirapan” and we blame the government. History has been a patient teacher and yet we never seem to learn. How much more must we endure before we finally realize that forgiving is not the same as forgetting and justice is not synonymous with kindness?