By the time you read this column, it is possible that it is already overtaken by events. Events are taking place rapidly, and narratives and counter-narratives invade the social media. Those who follow the news in the Senate are saying that there is more to what is happening than meets the eye. In these evolving scenarios, people have grown skeptical of what our leaders are saying. For instance, many are asking whether there really was an attack on the Senate on the evening of May 13, or whether this was part of an elaborate script to let Senator Bato de la Rosa off the hook. And did the Sergeant-at-Arms, retired Major General Mao Aplasca, who is from Davao and a mistah of the beleaguered senator, allow Bato to just leave the premises? Was not Bato under the protective custody of the Senate?
From the looks of what is happening, it would appear that the people are taken in as fools. There is even no attempt to have an explanation with credible deniability. They want us to accept their narratives hook, line and sinker even if the loopholes are as numerous as the black spots of a Dalmatian.
In the past few days, the credibility of the Senate has sadly gone down to an incredible low. The halls that used to witness the debates of Recto, Salonga, Diokno, and Tañada now have to listen to the inanities of Robin Padilla.
But no one typifies the institutional embarrassment better than Bato de la Rosa. His name means rock. A rock is a symbol of solidity and firmness. But it appears that he is solid and firm only when he is battling alleged drug users whose poverty does not allow them to fight back.
Netizens are placing side-by-side video clips of Bato daring the International Criminal Court to “come and make my day” and his pathetic attempt to run away from those he thought were bringing an arrest warrant. He sings the hymn of the Philippine Military Academy as if he is saying that protecting him is equivalent to loyalty to the Philippines. He calls on people to gather for a prayer rally to shield him as if he had not served a President who mocked God. He appeals that his human rights be respected, although under his leadership, the national police tokhanged thousands of alleged drug users without their day in court. The irony is that he does not seem to be introspective enough to notice the contradictions in his life.
I would like to think that Bato was an idealistic young man before his taste for power and his association with the unscrupulously powerful altered his morals.
I am reminded of an important figure in the history of Christianity named Peter, whose name also means rock and who was given the keys to the reign of God. I will attempt to paraphrase the words of our Lord Jesus to Peter, this time imagining these words to be spoken by Rodrigo Duterte to Bato. “You are Bato, and upon this rock, I will wage my war against drugs. I will give you the keys to power. Whosoever you declare guilty will be guilty and can be killed and whosoever you declare innocent will be innocent. The forces of human rights will not prevail against you.”
But Peter became a saint, preaching the message of Jesus. Bato de la Rosa is now haunted by the possibility of arrest. Where lies the difference? Well, Peter for all his failings, remembered the words of our Lord Jesus. In contrast, Bato followed and even imitated the bravado of his patron, who once ridiculed Jesus.
That is one hell of a difference.
