‘Our people suffer from a palpable lack of forgiveness by example.’
PEOPLE may be thinking twice before looking up to the second most powerful official of the land for any inspiring Christmas message.
Vice President Sara Duterte has urged her countrymen to practice forgiveness and love which she knows as the “message and spirit” of Christmas but does not want to lead by example, especially in forgiving her enemies.
She explains, “It’s all up to you if you will be forgiving. Not everyone’s the same. There are some who can forgive quickly, there are some who take time and there are those who take their grudges to the grave.” It was a candid admission of her weakness and conveys her failure to appreciate forgiveness as a powerful tool for healing and reconciliation.
Our national leaders are not known to exhibit this rare moral and humane quality. Instead, they have turned politics into a major source of violent reprisal or vendetta, leaving very little room for forgiveness.
Would Duterte turn out to be vindictive if and when an impeachment trial is held or after, if and when she is not removed from office? Would there be little hope for her to help bring about healing in this troubled nation?
Our people suffer from a palpable lack of forgiveness by example. It would have been an unprecedented moral and spiritual force not only for national reconciliation but for political stability, as well, if, before passing away, former President Cory Aquino had publicly declared her forgiveness, without mentioning names, for the mastermind, plotters and assassins of her husband, Ninoy.
The astonishing example of former South African President Nelson Mandela on forgiveness seems quite difficult for our political leaders to emulate. Such was the stuff that prevented an imminent civil war in his deeply divided country and instead led to unity and reconciliation.
After being imprisoned for 27 years as a major political dissident during which several of his relatives and followers were tortured and murdered, he set out to forgive the public and military officials who persecuted, tortured, humiliated, and maligned him through the years. He stated that he would still be in prison if “he had remained in bondage with hatred, bitterness and resentments.”
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Reunions are the common fare during the most festive season of the year. And these are not complete without the heartwarming reminiscences of years gone by with family, friends, or officemates.
A truly memorable event I didn’t want to miss for the world was the reunion of the former news staff of the Radio Philippines Network (RPN) or Channel 9 organized by former senior news cameraman Erick Aguilar at San Mateo, Rizal last Saturday.
Most of the attendees belonged to the younger generation in the network when I was the News and Public Affairs Manager for five years that started in the late 1990s. Most of the older news employees who have been with the country’s largest network then, next to ABS-CBN or Channel 2, since the 1970s have passed on.
One of the saddest moments at the department was the sudden death of former Chief of Reporters and Desk Officer Mario Awayan, who had migrated to New York with his family. He was only 40 years old when he succumbed to a fatal heart attack while managing a Japanese restaurant.
The iconic veteran news anchor and highly-esteemed Harry Gasser of the then longest-running television newscast in the country (“Newswatch, Final Edition”) would also pass on 10 years later.
After the sequestered Channel 9 was virtually shut down under the guise of privatization during President Noynoy Aquino’s administration, the younger additional staff that I hired under an expanded production format, mostly made up of reporters, cameramen, and news writers, transferred to other broadcast networks. News reporters are usually the most brazen with their convictions and would stand by their stories with uncompromising resolve as we all struggled against editorial constraints imposed by Malacanang on a sequestered TV/radio network. But I was indeed lucky that the Lord blessed me mostly with exceptionally resourceful, insightful, and dedicated reporters whom I learned to respect for their independence and uprightness.
I could not forget how one of them, Vicky Sambilay, came up to me to grumble about a politically biased story she was forced to cover. I took her aside and patiently explained my predicament as a news and public manager who had to toe the line, not just for my sake but for the entire department. I also pointed out plainly that she should resign if she could not stand “the heat” but that was after I told her I appreciated the high quality of her work and her pleasing attitude. Vicky eventually became an outstanding reporter and news anchor on the early evening edition of “Newswatch.”
Former senior cameraman Joann Alatiit, one of the most intrepid during risky coverages, rarely refused an out-of-town assignment. He braved the jungles of Basilan to cover an Abu Sayyaff hostage-taking crisis that dominated the headlines for weeks on end.
He and Chief of Reporters Alwyn Alburo were nearly caught in an ambush that killed four Scout Rangers who had gone ahead of them. They decided at the last minute not to join the military pursuit operations against the merciless bandits.
Recently, he was seriously injured in Davao City when supporters of beleaguered Pastor Apollo Quiboloy figured in a violent encounter with the police.
He and the late Channel 9 news cameraman Mon Ogad represented the ideals of professionalism, raw courage, and relentless determination that have profiled the shining achievements of many others in the news broadcast industry. While covering the so-called Battle of Mendiola in front of Malacanang many years ago, Mon was hit on his bulging stomach by shrapnel from an exploding grenade. He survived the ordeal and earned a Man of the Year Award from Channel 9 and a special award from the National Press Club.
