How tragic it is to realize that the Jennifer Laude case has divided us, more than it did unite. There go your pro- and anti-LGBT advocates, sovereignty activists, the moralists, the apologists, the lackeys, the memas(me masabi lang). Throw in the neighborhood commentarists in your physical and virtual neighborhoods and we’re ready to rumble.
The issues are certainly getting mixed up, in no large part to the mishandling and misbehavior of key actors in this drama. So even when stripped to its core, this is a story that deserves to play out in an arena all to itself.
Simply put, a person died, in a most brutal, cold-blooded, and ignominous way. That she’s transgender puts off the orthodox Catholic; that it happened in Olongapo silences the many who pretended that the stigma is gone. That she’s a Filipina abused by a US soldier leaves this government on the defensive and all gaga over its security policies.
As with any murder, a person did it. No, EDCA did not kill Jennifer. No, neither playfulness nor dismayed drunkenness made Jennifer drop down dead. Someone beat her up senseless, and pulled her into the toilet bowl to drown. If US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton did it, he has to be made responsible.
Ah, but then here lies the tricky questions. Is Pemberton being made accountable when he has not been presented before the proper civilian authorities? Is he being held responsible, when he is in US custody?
Because you see, though the US did not kill Jennifer, it seems to be making sure no American takes the fall for it.
Jennifer’s murder made us all wade into murky waters where the smallest thing seems to be as important as the trivial. With emotions heightened, the responses are quicker and razor-sharp, but not necessarily more logical. Look at what happened to Jennifer’s German fiance who trespassed on army property. He was barred from leaving the Philippines, so that he could be kicked out later, only with more ceremony. Look at Professor Roque, who’s being threatened with disbarment over bold and impertinent actions. Basically, he’s being told to shut up. Same end goal, but hey, pile on the drama, the hullabaloo, and waste our time and government resources to boot.
In a case of pointing fingers, with hints of the legal state “in pari delicto” (in equal fault), this isn’t the time to make more enemies. If we concentrate on the bigger picture and focus on the things that we can control, we’re more likely to make headway with this seemingly catch-22 situation for the righteous. Caught in a world that’s all shades of gray, we’re made now to choose what gradient tone will keep the demons at bay.
Rage is one of the rawest, most powerful – and hence, most sought-after – sentiments that can be stirred by any public event. In this case it’s coming from all over the place, spilling right over what’s important, urgent, logical – and poignantly, humane. It’s difficult when anger and shock convolute what made sense in the first place. It’s dangerous when manner and form eclipse the message, and when the boundaries of rationality are breached by an irrational call for order when there can be none.
But it’s downright just to vent it all out on the people and issues that can, in one fell swoop, bring injustice. When President Aquino refused to go to Jennifer’s wake, he set back public support and grief for Jennifer because it’s as if he said, you are one Filipino not worth fighting for. When the US embassy refused to concede that the Philippine had full legal custody of Pemberton, the message was abundantly clear – you can touch him but you can’t have him.
When later for sure, the US government pulls all the stops to subvert the criminal proceedings as with the Subic rape case, that’s when the bottomline hits. The US can get away with murder in the Philippines. VFA and EDCA lets the US soldiers come in and play rough, and then lets them out off the hook. Well, but hasn’t the US has been getting away with so many things much worse for over a century here now?
When things settle down, let the rage boil over. What will ensure we don’t have another Nicole or Jennifer? Or an Arsid Baharun, shot and wounded by US troops during marksmanship practice in Zamboanga City? Or a Gregan Cardeño, an interpreter for US soldiers in Marawi City hired by a private military contractor, found dead under mysterious circumstances after confiding to a friend he was doing some other work? May that solution bring us together, if not in principled defiance or indignation, then maybe, in respect for the dead.
The issues are certainly getting mixed up, in no large part to the mishandling and misbehavior of key actors in this drama. So even when stripped to its core, this is a story that deserves to play out in an arena all to itself.
Simply put, a person died, in a most brutal, cold-blooded, and ignominous way. That she’s transgender puts off the orthodox Catholic; that it happened in Olongapo silences the many who pretended that the stigma is gone. That she’s a Filipina abused by a US soldier leaves this government on the defensive and all gaga over its security policies.
As with any murder, a person did it. No, EDCA did not kill Jennifer. No, neither playfulness nor dismayed drunkenness made Jennifer drop down dead. Someone beat her up senseless, and pulled her into the toilet bowl to drown. If US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton did it, he has to be made responsible.
Ah, but then here lies the tricky questions. Is Pemberton being made accountable when he has not been presented before the proper civilian authorities? Is he being held responsible, when he is in US custody?
Because you see, though the US did not kill Jennifer, it seems to be making sure no American takes the fall for it.
Jennifer’s murder made us all wade into murky waters where the smallest thing seems to be as important as the trivial. With emotions heightened, the responses are quicker and razor-sharp, but not necessarily more logical. Look at what happened to Jennifer’s German fiance who trespassed on army property. He was barred from leaving the Philippines, so that he could be kicked out later, only with more ceremony. Look at Professor Roque, who’s being threatened with disbarment over bold and impertinent actions. Basically, he’s being told to shut up. Same end goal, but hey, pile on the drama, the hullabaloo, and waste our time and government resources to boot.
In a case of pointing fingers, with hints of the legal state “in pari delicto” (in equal fault), this isn’t the time to make more enemies. If we concentrate on the bigger picture and focus on the things that we can control, we’re more likely to make headway with this seemingly catch-22 situation for the righteous. Caught in a world that’s all shades of gray, we’re made now to choose what gradient tone will keep the demons at bay.
Rage is one of the rawest, most powerful – and hence, most sought-after – sentiments that can be stirred by any public event. In this case it’s coming from all over the place, spilling right over what’s important, urgent, logical – and poignantly, humane. It’s difficult when anger and shock convolute what made sense in the first place. It’s dangerous when manner and form eclipse the message, and when the boundaries of rationality are breached by an irrational call for order when there can be none.
But it’s downright just to vent it all out on the people and issues that can, in one fell swoop, bring injustice. When President Aquino refused to go to Jennifer’s wake, he set back public support and grief for Jennifer because it’s as if he said, you are one Filipino not worth fighting for. When the US embassy refused to concede that the Philippine had full legal custody of Pemberton, the message was abundantly clear – you can touch him but you can’t have him.
When later for sure, the US government pulls all the stops to subvert the criminal proceedings as with the Subic rape case, that’s when the bottomline hits. The US can get away with murder in the Philippines. VFA and EDCA lets the US soldiers come in and play rough, and then lets them out off the hook. Well, but hasn’t the US has been getting away with so many things much worse for over a century here now?
When things settle down, let the rage boil over. What will ensure we don’t have another Nicole or Jennifer? Or an Arsid Baharun, shot and wounded by US troops during marksmanship practice in Zamboanga City? Or a Gregan Cardeño, an interpreter for US soldiers in Marawi City hired by a private military contractor, found dead under mysterious circumstances after confiding to a friend he was doing some other work? May that solution bring us together, if not in principled defiance or indignation, then maybe, in respect for the dead.