No cause for celebration
No cause for celebration
Updated 11:09pm (Mla time) Nov 28, 2004
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the November 29, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
ANGELITO Nayan himself talked of God and the Bible. From both, he drew the strength to see himself through his ordeal, he said. He remembered one Bible verse in particular and repeatedly murmured it in the darkness: "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord; plans to prosper you and not harm you; plans to give you hope and a future."
Well, he also spoke of his captors showing no small amount of solicitousness-"Afghan hospitality," as he referred to it-toward them during their captivity. They got warm clothing for the cold and, except for the fact that a threat of harm lay upon their heads, did not particularly endure harsh conditions.
His experience, Nayan said, has only fanned his goodwill for the Afghan people. He hopes in particular that "democracy, peace and social justice will finally be the order of the day" for them.
I'm not knocking Nayan's discovery of God from the pit of darkness, or in the solitary vastness of the desert. No one who hasn't been kidnapped can truly appreciate the terrors that go with it. And abroad, too. One who has experienced the anxiety of being in a strange land can only imagine what it means to be a prisoner there. It doesn't get better because one works for the Foreign Service. There are no atheists in the trenches, goes a saying. There are no atheists in the company of kidnappers, too.
I am glad at least that Nayan's release has not been trotted out as a triumph of negotiation, the way Angelo de la Cruz's was. The latter had a crowd of jet-setting Filipino officials frantically flying to and from the Gulf countries for reasons only they knew. De la Cruz's captors were clear in what they wanted and had demonstrated earlier, via the beheadings of captives, they were not swayed by pleas and negotiations. They had one demand and one demand only, and that was for De la Cruz's country to pull out of Iraq. We did. Why the officials who came back with De la Cruz preened before the cameras as though they had accomplished something-well, this a country whose head is spun by spin.
What caused Nayan to be released, we do not know. Though by his own account, his captors were nowhere near to being their Iraqi counterparts in appetite for violence. His abduction in fact seems to have been fairly arbitrary: He and his companions were taken because they were UN workers who could be exchanged for their kidnappers' imprisoned brethren. Nayan just happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time. His captors have easily settled for another UN worker.
That is not the case with Robert Tarongoy, who remains in the hands of his Iraqi captors to this day. The only accident in his case, like the only accident in De la Cruz's case, is that he and not another Filipino was kidnapped. Tarongoy dispels any lingering notion that De la Cruz's abduction was a fluke. Filipinos have become targets in Iraq and possibly elsewhere in the Gulf.
That is what makes Gloria Macapapal-Arroyo's order for the country to turn on the lights to greet Nayan, at the very least, premature. It insults Tarongoy and us. We still have a compatriot in the hands of kidnappers, and one who is not likely to come home telling stories about Iraqi hospitality. Indeed, if he comes home at all. His kidnappers have not been known to possess the merciful qualities of those who held Nayan. What they have been known for is their track record in carrying out their threats without compunction.
I'm not knocking Nayan's rediscovery of God and the Bible (like Daniel's) from the pit of captivity. But I am knocking another round of religious expostulation or breast-beating to greet Nayan's return. Nayan has every reason to turn pious and thankful, we do not. We have every reason only to turn furious and resentful. This is not an act of God or Fate that, like a storm or earthquake, we have managed to survive by dint of prayer or God's love. This is the direct result of our act of war against a people who have done us no harm, indeed have merely given some of our own people home and hearth. We cannot survive that other than by rescinding that act of war and apologizing to those we have injured so recklessly.
What do we do, throw a fiesta and congratulate ourselves every time a Filipino is released by his kidnappers in Iraq or elsewhere? We will have too many fiestas and broken backs from back-patting from the sheer number of Filipinos that stands to be kidnapped there. This isn't the end, this is just the beginning. Our acceptance of being chief anti-terrorist enforcer of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation guarantees it.
De la Cruz and Nayan, and certainly Tarongoy, are not a cause for joy, they are a cause for anger. They should never have been kidnapped to begin with-De la Cruz and Tarongoy above all-and would never have been kidnapped to begin with if their President had not forced them to wear a reflectorized sign on their backs that said, "Kidnap me." I don't know why the OFWs in particular, or the migrant groups that are representing them, are not taking to the streets like a flood to demand that their President stop shoving them in harm's way by playing the American stooge.
Nayan says he wishes the Afghan people well and looks to the time when they would have democracy, peace and social justice. Well, history has yet to record democracy, peace, or social justice emerging from the loins of occupation, or subjugation, or tyranny. "Imposed democracy" is a contradiction in terms. Winged lions have a better chance of being found in this world. You need not look far to see what happens when a colonial power occupies another country and ruthlessly pacifies it to build democracy. You need only look at the Philippines.
What we are is democratic in form, ridiculous in substance.
Updated 11:09pm (Mla time) Nov 28, 2004
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the November 29, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
ANGELITO Nayan himself talked of God and the Bible. From both, he drew the strength to see himself through his ordeal, he said. He remembered one Bible verse in particular and repeatedly murmured it in the darkness: "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord; plans to prosper you and not harm you; plans to give you hope and a future."
Well, he also spoke of his captors showing no small amount of solicitousness-"Afghan hospitality," as he referred to it-toward them during their captivity. They got warm clothing for the cold and, except for the fact that a threat of harm lay upon their heads, did not particularly endure harsh conditions.
His experience, Nayan said, has only fanned his goodwill for the Afghan people. He hopes in particular that "democracy, peace and social justice will finally be the order of the day" for them.
I'm not knocking Nayan's discovery of God from the pit of darkness, or in the solitary vastness of the desert. No one who hasn't been kidnapped can truly appreciate the terrors that go with it. And abroad, too. One who has experienced the anxiety of being in a strange land can only imagine what it means to be a prisoner there. It doesn't get better because one works for the Foreign Service. There are no atheists in the trenches, goes a saying. There are no atheists in the company of kidnappers, too.
I am glad at least that Nayan's release has not been trotted out as a triumph of negotiation, the way Angelo de la Cruz's was. The latter had a crowd of jet-setting Filipino officials frantically flying to and from the Gulf countries for reasons only they knew. De la Cruz's captors were clear in what they wanted and had demonstrated earlier, via the beheadings of captives, they were not swayed by pleas and negotiations. They had one demand and one demand only, and that was for De la Cruz's country to pull out of Iraq. We did. Why the officials who came back with De la Cruz preened before the cameras as though they had accomplished something-well, this a country whose head is spun by spin.
What caused Nayan to be released, we do not know. Though by his own account, his captors were nowhere near to being their Iraqi counterparts in appetite for violence. His abduction in fact seems to have been fairly arbitrary: He and his companions were taken because they were UN workers who could be exchanged for their kidnappers' imprisoned brethren. Nayan just happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time. His captors have easily settled for another UN worker.
That is not the case with Robert Tarongoy, who remains in the hands of his Iraqi captors to this day. The only accident in his case, like the only accident in De la Cruz's case, is that he and not another Filipino was kidnapped. Tarongoy dispels any lingering notion that De la Cruz's abduction was a fluke. Filipinos have become targets in Iraq and possibly elsewhere in the Gulf.
That is what makes Gloria Macapapal-Arroyo's order for the country to turn on the lights to greet Nayan, at the very least, premature. It insults Tarongoy and us. We still have a compatriot in the hands of kidnappers, and one who is not likely to come home telling stories about Iraqi hospitality. Indeed, if he comes home at all. His kidnappers have not been known to possess the merciful qualities of those who held Nayan. What they have been known for is their track record in carrying out their threats without compunction.
I'm not knocking Nayan's rediscovery of God and the Bible (like Daniel's) from the pit of captivity. But I am knocking another round of religious expostulation or breast-beating to greet Nayan's return. Nayan has every reason to turn pious and thankful, we do not. We have every reason only to turn furious and resentful. This is not an act of God or Fate that, like a storm or earthquake, we have managed to survive by dint of prayer or God's love. This is the direct result of our act of war against a people who have done us no harm, indeed have merely given some of our own people home and hearth. We cannot survive that other than by rescinding that act of war and apologizing to those we have injured so recklessly.
What do we do, throw a fiesta and congratulate ourselves every time a Filipino is released by his kidnappers in Iraq or elsewhere? We will have too many fiestas and broken backs from back-patting from the sheer number of Filipinos that stands to be kidnapped there. This isn't the end, this is just the beginning. Our acceptance of being chief anti-terrorist enforcer of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation guarantees it.
De la Cruz and Nayan, and certainly Tarongoy, are not a cause for joy, they are a cause for anger. They should never have been kidnapped to begin with-De la Cruz and Tarongoy above all-and would never have been kidnapped to begin with if their President had not forced them to wear a reflectorized sign on their backs that said, "Kidnap me." I don't know why the OFWs in particular, or the migrant groups that are representing them, are not taking to the streets like a flood to demand that their President stop shoving them in harm's way by playing the American stooge.
Nayan says he wishes the Afghan people well and looks to the time when they would have democracy, peace and social justice. Well, history has yet to record democracy, peace, or social justice emerging from the loins of occupation, or subjugation, or tyranny. "Imposed democracy" is a contradiction in terms. Winged lions have a better chance of being found in this world. You need not look far to see what happens when a colonial power occupies another country and ruthlessly pacifies it to build democracy. You need only look at the Philippines.
What we are is democratic in form, ridiculous in substance.
posted by Dante at 12:00 AM
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