Time to speak out

It has started. Just as this column had warned in previous days, text messages and letters are beginning to flood the country, especially in the places where there are elements, like the media and non-government groups who are not besotted with the president. Even Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra has been hit by such hate mail, but he does not appear flustered. He knows that those behind it have all the money and the organization to send the text messages, the e-mails, the anonymous letters and those under false names.

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In the meantime, all we can say to those who receive copies of such hate communications is that they use their own judgement. Do they sound true? Or do they reek of opportunism or canine attachment to some generous benefactor? We in the media are fully aware that we may soon be objects of bribery, intimidation or blackmail, but these will all be regarded as hazards of the trade. But we will also "monitor" our own ranks and see who, or how many will be changing their tunes in the next few days. "By their fruits…" as the Holy Book says, we shall know them.

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Anyway, I did read again the Tribune yesterday which looked thicker than usual. It turned out that the paper was marking its sixth anniversary. Only a baby, but what a to-do it has caused already. But the timing of its alleged persecution was just perfect, wasn't it? As its editor Ninez Olivares said yesterday, she is not complaining because their circulation has doubled and their subscribers are increasing, too. And if you look at their anniversary supplements, they also got more greeting ads than they had before PP 1017.

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Congratulating the paper in big advertisements were such prominent people as Senators Ed Angara, Jamby Madrigal, Vicente Sotto III, Nene Pimentel, Serge Osmeña III, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Loi Estrada and Ping Lacson. Other brave souls were Kalookan Rep. Luis Asistio, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito. There were others who greeted the paper through big ads, but they weren't brave enough to give their names, only said they were "Friends of the Tribune". I don't know if their greetings had been offset by a one-page advertisement from the Department of Agrarian Reform with the picture of the President, and proclaiming "Tuloy-tuloy ang reporma sa lupa".

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By the way are these ten the senators that GMA was referring to when she spoke on TV Tuesday, the ones who are always investigating and investigating and wasting the people's money only? As expected, they were all bristling yesterday, saying such investigations were part of their duty, and intended for the good of the country. What had they been wasting time on, anyway? The Jose Pidal Case, the Juetengate, the Hello Garci, the fertilizer affair? And what have they accomplished, except for providing entertainment that did not entertain the president?

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More entertaining yesterday was the account of Congressman Risa Hontiveros Baraquel of how she was "invited" by the police while she was celebrating the International Women's Day. Baraquel said the cops told her and her companions they were only being invited, but she was pushed, and her feet stuffed into the police van when she tried to get out. Even the word "invitation" has gained another meaning now. But what's next, because she is filing charges against her "hosts" since even the Justice Department reportedly said she could not be arrested while Congress is in session? And because there was allegedly no denial of their application for a permit to rally, and it could be considered granted after a lapse of two days?

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As for those organized hate-mailers and texters who may have started their siege on my colleagues in the media, I hope they will not be further enraged when I repeat the lines I recently quoted from German Pastor Martin Niemuller who had said:

"First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics and I did not speak out
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one to speak out for me".*

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