‘But 80 years later, the great-grandchildren and grand-kids of the Greatest Generation, wallowing in the positive liberty of free expression, drowned in the quagmire of fake news.’
PARRHESIA 1 (Solidus Snake): “Unlike an ‘intron’ of history, I will be remembered as an exon. That will be my legacy, my mark on history…liberate us all. And we will become the ‘Sons of Liberty’!” [Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty] How? First, we emancipate ourselves by casting brightness on the shadow of narcissism, by minimizing the government’s intrusions in our lives, and by reducing the demands that others take from our time. Then we work for the self-sufficiency of our nation. To achieve both requires our rejection of demons (Evil cannot be “befriended or integrated, only stopped in its tracks, as a sudden light stops Dracula.”). [David Richo. Shadow Dance: Liberating The Power And Creativity Of Your Dark Side. Boston: Shambhala, 2010]
To be free, we must recover from our addictions, courageously construct a moral inventory of ourselves and admit that Almighty God is the true power restoring us to sanity.
Parrhesia 2 (U.S. Congress, 02 June 1942): “We are fighting that the Filipino people may be the masters of their own destiny and that every Filipino not only of this generation but of the generations to come may be able to live in peace and tranquility in the full enjoyment of liberty and freedom. Your duty–our duty–is to fight and resist until the invader is driven from our land. You must not give up a foot of ground when the battle joins. You must hold in place–and hold–and hold.”
[https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1942/06/02/speech-of-president-quezon-before-the-house-of-representatives/]
Eight decades later, our full enjoyment of our affranchisement is hobbled by the Triple Crises (climate, health, economic), Moro terrorism (Abu Sayyaf), and Han chauvinism (“The Department of Foreign Affairs has filed a diplomatic protest against the People’s Republic of China’s 01 May 2022 unilateral imposition of a three-and-half-month fishing moratorium in areas of the South China Sea north of the 12 degrees North latitude.”). [https://dfa.gov.ph/dfa-news/statements-and-advisoriesupdate/30595-dfa-statement-on-china-s-unilateral-fishing-ban-in-the-south-china-sea]
Parrhesia 3 (Diary of Ramon A. Alcaraz, June 10,1942): “This is my 62nd day as POW in Malolos Camp. Today, for the second time since last month, Judge Roldan shared with me for a few minutes, contents of a secret one page underground news tabloid ‘Free Philippines’ with short wave radio foreign news summary. The first one he shared with me in the confines of his quarters last month was about what I considered a fantasy story I did not believe. It tells about the alleged bombing of Tokyo by a group of bombers led by a certain Gen. James Doolittle that came from Shangrila, according to Pres. Roosevelt…I thought its purpose was to boost the very low morale of the US public after our Bataan humiliation.”
“This time, the news from the Judge seems believeable. It mentions about a supposedly great air and sea battle in the Midway Island area between US and Japanese naval forces that started June 3 and lasted four continuous days and nights resulting finally in the withdrawal from engagements of the Japanese Naval Forces after three of their Aircraft Carriers were sunk, three battleships badly damaged and a dozen others damaged. The US admitted the loss of one Carrier USS Yorktown, and destroyer USS Hammon. If this news is even half true, it will be very bad ultimately for Japan whose ability to replace their losses is very inferior compared to the industrial capabilities of USA.” [https://philippinediaryproject.com/1942/06/10/june-101942/]
Even in captivity, our warriors received the truth and the fighting spirit of democracy. The Filipino POW got the kernel of the two Allied victories, that “the Doolittle raid embarrassed and infuriated Japanese military leaders and raised Allied morale” and that the American performance of 04-07 June 1942 was “the greatest naval victory of the world to date” in the number of surface and aircraft destroyed (4 Japanese carriers sunk, 28 enemy battleships, cruisers, destroyers sunk or damaged and 300 Nipponese aircraft destroyed).
[Stephen L. McFarland. “World War II”•Global Conflict.” A Concise History of the U.S. Air Force. Air Force History and Museums Program. 1997; The Battle of Midway (1942) by John Ford] But 80 years later, the great-grandchildren and grand-kids of the Greatest Generation, wallowing in the positive liberty of free expression, drowned in the quagmire of fake news.
Thus, on Philippine Independence Week of 2022, we have to understand: “Freedom is not something that is earned, or assigned, but something that is acknowledged.” [Jerry and Esther Hicks. A New Beginning: A Personal Handbook to Enhance Your Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness. San Antonio, TX: Abraham-Hicks Publications, 2001]
