Well, I have a gentler but more radical proposal for these people whose greed has gotten the better of them.
Rehabilitation.
After all, most progressives are at their very core, pro-life in the real sense of the word, and against cruel and inhuman punishment and the death penalty. So, too, is the Catholic Church.
Ergo, let's unite forces on this one (despite our differences over the Reproductive Health bill) and pray for the speedy and just resolution of all the cases filed against ex-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit or the spirits of our anitos—or ancestors—hover inside the (un)august halls of the Supreme Court, helping shine the light on what should have been the nation’s last bulwark of democracy.
Let’s pray that Chief Justice Renato Corona gains the delicadeza to inhibit himself from all Arroyo cases.
AND JUST what do we have in mind for these people who have acted for so long with arrogance and impunity?
Rehabilitate them.
Yup, rehab not extrajudicial killing, as evil is the resort of the weak, the challenged and the cowardly.
Here are my suggestions:
1. Prosecute them, without impunity, in an impartial court.
2. Give them time in a jail. No special treatment for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. But no need to give her extra difficult treatment on the other hand. I mean, who believes in an eye for an eye? Just give her what is the normal treatment in our normal, overcrowded jails.
3. While in jail, give them time to review Philippine history, the Philippine Constitution, the Civil Service Code. For a few weeks, put them under a regimented schedule that includes lots of prayer, study time (topics above), and for leisure, watching movies like this:
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/118279/Bayan-Ko-Kapit-Sa-Patalim/overview
4. Keep these images (and that of other heroes) around their room:
Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro (30 November 1863 – 10 May 1897) was a Filipino nationalist and revolutionary. He was a founder and later Supremo ("supreme leader") of the Katipunan movement which sought Philippine independence from Spanish colonial rule and began the Philippine Revolution.He is considered a de facto national hero of the Philippines.
Macario Sakay y de León was a Filipino general in the Philippine Revolution against Spain and in the Philippine-American War.
He continued resistance against the United States following the official American declaration of the war's end in 1902 and in the following year became president of the Tagalog Republic.
Sakay was conned by the Americans into coming down from the
mountains on promise of amnesty for him and his officials—on top of the
formation of Philippine Assembly composed of Filipinos to serve as the gate of
freedom. He was invited to receptions and banquets, one of which was a colonial
trap where Sakay and his principal lieutenants were disarmed and arrested while
the party was in progress. He was accused of banditry and hanged.
5. Remember, rehabilitation means:
"To restore to useful life, as through therapy and education or to restore to good condition, operation, or capacity."
The assumption of rehabilitation is that people are not natively criminal and that it is possible to restore a criminal to a useful life, to a life in which they contribute to themselves and to society. Rather than punishing the harm out of a criminal, rehabilitation would seek, by means of education or therapy, to bring a criminal into a more normal state of mind, or into an attitude which would be helpful to society, rather than be harmful to society.
Because we recognize that these people who act with impunity are simply not in good mental condition, we also suggest psychotherapy? Try accupuncture. Perhaps there is an acupuncture spot that lessens greed?
6. Part of their rehabilitation should also include:
a. Labor. Oh, no, not hard labor. Just the usual labor that 2/3 of our compatriots are forced to do everyday. Even better , the kind that many Filipino children have to undertake:
http://www.yidff.jp/97/cat051/97c083-e.htmlb. Separation from family. For years, please. In the same manner that thousands of Filipinos are forced by a collapsing economy and a dysfunctional government to separate from their families and go abroad. We also suggest a six-month stint, at least, as a maid in Singapore. Read: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4165088.stm
c. Six months living in one of Metro Manila’s slums, where 40 percent of Manila denizens now live. I suggest Payatas or Baseco, Tondo, where generations after generations of Filipino families have lived without hope.
Don't forget the daily fare of Lucky Me, Lucky Me and ore Lucky Me!Oh, for rehabilitation to be effective, we have to take away some things:
No more breakfasts here:
No more limousine rides with a whole barangay of policemen with wang-wangs (sirens) blazing.Instead, more rides here:
You know, Zen and the art of tricycle riding? Oh, and please, don’t forget the exercise:
AT THE END OF IT ALL, I am sure those once arrogant, greedy and power hungry will see the light.
So you see, our proposed solution is nothing NOTHING compared what those in power have done to the best and thebrightest who offered their lives for a better country!
Let me end with a song dedicated to those who need to be rehabilitated from their greed:
My personal revenge will be the right
Of our children in the schools and in the gardens
My personal revenge will be to give you
This song which has flourished without panic
My personal revenge will be to show you
The kindness in the eyes of my people
Who have always fought relentlessly in battle
And been generous and firm in victory.
My personal revenge will be to tell you good morning
On a street without beggars or homeless
When instead of jailing you I suggest
You shake away the sadness there that blinds you
And when you who have applied your hands in torture
Are unable to look up at what surrounds you
My personal revenge will be to give you
These hands that once you so mistreated
But have failed to take away their tenderness
It was the people who hated you the most
When rage became the language of their song
And underneath the skin of this town today
Its heart has been scarred forevermore
It was the people who hated you the most
When rage became the language of their song
And underneath the skin of this town today
Its heart has been scarred forevermore
And underneath the skin of this town today
Red and black, it's heart's been scarred forevermore
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