COMMUNIST groups like the National Democratic Fraud--este, National Democratic Affront (NDA) since their use of the word democracy is merely a front or facade for their own insidiously twisted version of democracy where followers are required to worship the state or "their people" as gods or God--led the cheering for the release of Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo and followed it up with dire warnings against other institutions concerning any attempts at cheating the partylist groups, which are being linked by the military to the communists in the coming elections.
At any rate these communists are expected to squeeze every last drop of propaganda venom into their bowls as they gear up for their campaign sorties in the coming weeks.
Anyway while their suspected allies cry victim and plead for international support, these communists conveniently wash their hands off or are mentioning only in passing their own shedding of blood of the victims of their internal purges within their confounded movement.
These communists are not without their own blood in their hands. That should serve as a warning and reminder to them even as they cry victim and run their own propaganda machine whole hog on the Filipino people.
Seeking forgiveness
With the holidays in, it's time to look back and see for ourselves if forgiveness ranks high in the public sentiment considering that Lent or the Holy Week is that time of year when people are supposed to forgive and forget the sins committed to them by their neighbors.
We are reminded of the theme of forgiveness in light of the TV ads showing a contrite senatorial aspirant Tessie-Aquino Oreta asking for forgiveness from the public for the "dancing queen" routine she pulled off at the height of the 2001 impeachment drama at the Senate floor which eventually paved the way for the second People Power Revolution.
While seeking forgiveness is fine, it may take the public sometime to digest what the senatorial aspirant is seeking to obtain and that is forgiveness and a form of redemption from the public.
The problem is, the public isn't too keen on doing that anytime soon or had completely forgotten about the whole thing by now to even bother or care about what she was saying in her TV ads.
Then there are the few people who get squeamish every time they watch Oreta's TV ad because the timing is far too convenient coming as it is during the election season. Which enhances the suspicion that sooner or later she may drop her Senate bid and pursue a lower-profile candidacy for Congress.
Oreta's apology also comes a little more than two years ago when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued a similar apology for the now infamous "Hello Garci" scandal, which she ended with a smile and an assurance that everything will be okay.
Not only is Arroyo's apology fake, her smile only resembles the "dancing queen" routine displayed by Oreta which in effect is a sort of victory dance--or in Arroyo's case, a smile of triumph at the possibility that they have conned the people.
Oreta's dancing routine was rewarded with a People Power revolution while President Arroyo remains in power owing to her military clique and the continued pouring of funds that financed the rejection of two impeachment campaigns against her and boosted her eventually failed Charter change bid.
Yes there are times to seek forgiveness for one's sins before neighbors and to fellow Filipinos. But forgiveness must be tempered with justice and in Oreta's case justice may have been done and the public will decide whether to forgive her or not.
The same cannot be said of Arroyo, whose pseudo messages of unity fail to conceal her perceived sins of the past.
