Truths that every Filipino should know

By Patricia Evangelista

Today I will write a manifesto. I would like to correct the perception that my generation is apathetic to the state of the nation. I am told we neither know nor care about issues of policy, of poverty, of the national economy. It is not true, but such is our inexperience that we look towards the obvious superiority of our elders to determine how to go about our lives, to set our moral and ethical standards, to fix upon our minds the path of truth and virtue in a society in constant battle with sin.

I am, after all, only twenty-three, and brought up to have the highest respect for authority and government. Let me tell you what I’ve learned, from the events of the past week, from headlines and interviews and the decisions made by men and women in power. Let me share with you the truths I have concluded from the wisdom of my elders.

I have learned, first, that a man accused of torture, perjury, and the wholesale murder of dozens—by no less than the Supreme Court and the United Nations—is precisely the sort of man fit to sit in the House of Representatives.

This is the man whom testimonies of escaped political prisoners Oscar Leuterio and Raymond Manalo held responsible for the disappearances and subsequent rapes of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno, as decided by the Supreme Court in 2008. This is the man the Melo Commission-- established to look into the rash of political disappearances—recommended for investigation. This is the same man that Justice Jose Melo, of that same Commission, permitted to represent the party list group “Bantay”—also known as True Marcos Loyalists, whose sworn duty is to stand for “the marginalized and underrepresented sector” of the military in Congress “to implement the government’s national security program.” Bantay was accepted with knowledge that the military has never been more represented in government since martial law, with the administration actively distributing plum leadership positions to retired military men, and with the certain conviction that the group will be lead by the gentleman lovingly called Butcher by his men.

No matter the protests, the reams of investigative reports, the witnesses, the small girl named Sugar who lost her daddy—Jovito Palaparan’s inclusion into the House of Representatives establishes that killers—for as long as they have powerful friends—are not only excepted from the rule of law, they are ushered into Congress and are called Honorable.

I’ll tell what else I learned, this time from the behavior of the police over the death of Abs-cbn anchor Ted Failon’s wife. I have learned that it is unnecessary to have a warrant for arrest if there are enough members of the police to physically cart away whomever they consider a suspect. I have also learned that it is acceptable for police chiefs to feed false information to journalists to report to the public in order to establish that a man is guilty of killing his wife—as was in the case of Police Superintendent Mabanag in telling members of the Philippine media that Ted Failon was found with scratches on his person (to indicate a fight with his wife) and that there is evidence her body was moved from his car to the bathroom (now found without basis). I am also now aware that it is appropriate to drag possible witnesses from the deathbeds of relatives if the cause is justice—with support of the good secretary of Justice.

I’ll tell you the last lesson I learned, from the ladies of the Court of Appeals in their decision in favor of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith against the young woman we now know as “Nicole.” I have learned that rape is only rape if the woman is a “demure provinciana lass,” and not If she has engaged in “undecorous behavior,” which may include going away for a weekend “to enjoy” with two American friends, and accepting free hotel accommodations after knowing them for the shamefully short period of “only about three months.” And if she did protest, it is only due to sudden and delayed guilt over her behavior, not because she was actually raped.

I have also discovered, from the learned ladies of the CA, that a girl cannot possibly be too drunk to refuse sexual intercourse when “she danced non-stop to the urgent beat of rock and hip-hop music” for a total of 15 minutes “without stumbling clumsily on the floor.” The court of course referred to a previously unreferred-to nugget of jurisprudence: that it is a known fact that “when a woman is drunk, she can hardly rise, much more stand up and dance, or she would just drop. This is a common experience among Filipino girls.” And because of all this, it is logical to conclude that any vaginal contusions a young woman may have acquired consistent with rape are in all probability not due to rape but may in fact be due to “finger grabs.”

It is an important lesson to learn at this time, and one that every young Filipino woman should learn—that if one is raped, one must not speak of it unless one is a farmer’s virgin daughter, and one must not claim to have been drunk and taken advantage of if she has succumbed to the “urgent beat” of hip hop and rock and roll. I am not certain how this jurisprudence applies to reggae or house music, and will assume that R & B is an exception, because the beat is not urgent enough for a drunken girl to sprawl on the ground.

And so I express my gratitude to the men and women who determine law and order in this country, for leading by example and insisting on only what is right and proper. I am glad it was made clear that the gentlemen of this country are permitted to continue in the business of raping and murdering. I intend to take steps to ensure I am never in the presence of gentlemen, alcohol and hiphop music for more than fourteen minutes, on the off-chance I find myself suddenly involved in a “spontaneous romantic encounter.”

If it does happen that I am raped, disappeared, or invited for questioning, in spite of my diligence, it is a relief to know that I and the rest of my generation will be in good hands.