Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay.
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Suddenly, I am not half the man I used to be.
There’s a shadow hanging over me.
Oh yesterday came suddenly
- The Beatles
The context of the song by the Beatles has nothing to do with politics. Most probably, the meaning in the mind of the composers was about irresponsible behavior in love affairs in the past, since part of the lyrics goes, “Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play. Now I need a place to hide away.”
But following the principle that the original intent of the author or composer need not bind a contemporary interpreter, I believe the song can capture the fears and inconsistencies of the enablers of tokhang.
Take the case of Bato de la Rosa. True to his name, he displayed a stony heart when he was a powerful police chief of Davao City and later the head of the Philippine National Police. He easily dismissed objections from human rights advocates, saying that in a war, “shit happens.” When he deemed it improbable that the long arms of the International Criminal Court would ever reach him, with much bravado he dared former Senator Sonny Trillanes to “bring it on.” But now he seems to be hiding from the ghost of his past, trying to make his presence scarce. The swagger is now gone when he sought solace in the parish of Fr. Ciano Ubod.
Above, I used the words “the ghost of his past.” These words remind me of the story “A Christmas Carol” where the classic miser Ebenezer Scrooge was visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas yet to come. Since Christmas is just a few weeks away, I want to contemporize this story by Charles Dickens and imagine these ghosts visiting Bato. Christmas past would remind him how he celebrated Christmases when he was still full of ideals, when his association with Duterte has not yet corrupted him. Christmas present would show him how the families of the poor victims would celebrate Christmas in their shanties, missing their loved ones. The ghost of Christmas still to come would show Bato himself together with Duterte in the confines of the ICC in The Hague.
We cannot blame the senator for he was simply following the lead of his commander. When he appeared in Congress, the former President said, “ICC? I want them to hurry and start the investigations tomorrow.” But he, through his lawyer, is now singing a different tune. His lawyer would question the jurisdiction of the ICC and admit of his deteriorating cognitive condition. For the sake of consistency, he should have told his flowers to stop pleading, “Bring him home.” Where’s the characteristic swagger now that he is at The Hague?
The ever sweet talking Senator Allan Peter Cayetano has suddenly become a defender of human rights, but only of Bato de la Rosa. The Bible quoting legislator would have been more credible if he defended the lowly victims in the past. But I do specifically remember him twisting the rules of logic when he asserted that there is no extra judicial killing in the Philippines since in the first place there is no judicial killing. Wow, Logic 101 would tell us instead that since there is no capital punishment in the Philippines, then any state-sanctioned killing is in effect extra judicial. His words now emphasizing the rights of Bato sound hollow. He is obviously no Senator Jose Diokno who defended real human rights victims.
It is not just the inconsistency with regards to human rights. Even more understandable to the common tao is the evident 180-degree turn in how Sara Duterte now leads her supporters in calling for the resignation of President Bongbong Marcos. Didn’t she say “I love you, BBM” when the Uniteam was still intact?
Indeed, as the Beatles would put it, yesterday is like a shadow hanging over us. It has always been this way when our pronouncements are not based on personal convictions but on what is presently convenient. But that yesterday can haunt the present is even more true today when Google is at the netizen’s fingertips. It is unbelievably easy now for anyone to trace what a public figure once said or did several years ago.
Let us play the role of ghosts to remind them of their past.