First Gentleman Mike Arroyo tells us that we must "forgive and forget" during this season of lent. I take it strongly that he must be referring to one's shortcomings and trespasses against others. I take it strongly, too, that these shortcomings and trespasses, or sins against the divine and human laws no matter how monumentally flawed and grotesquely distorted they have become, should be forgiven and forgotten both at the same time. Or perhaps one must forgive instead of forgetting. Or one may forget instead of forgiving. Either way, it seems that some of us are more than willing to abandon the full gravity of being held accountable, confusing responsibility with ignorance and blurring the lines all the more, all in the name of saving face.
While Mike Arroyo itches to forgive and to forget, Gloria Arroyo on the other hand itches to continue being, or at least to once and for all become, a 'force of good'. But being a force of good requires more than just unsolicited public pronouncements. Continuing being a force of good requires an untarnished persona right smack in the beginning and not beginning or pretending to be one after the damage has swept and stirred this nation into berserk. You do not echo words that are empty of conviction and leave them out to dry in the sun unless your intentions are clear. But more to being clear, public pronouncements should take their merit not from yet another survival strategy of a bereaving apologetic, whose guilt hangs in one's nose, but from the very core of a democracy. That is, it should bloom from the thirst for truth and the nobility of eternal vigilance, not from the thirst for power and the expediency of appeasing the wildfire of public sentiment.
Indeed, when you have someone willing to forgive and forget, you have all the reasons in the world to believe that to forgive and to forget requires something which is to be forgiven and to be forgotten. You do not forgive and forget someone or something inexistent for it is, after all, the worst sign of utter folly. Rather, you forgive and forget someone or something which gives you all the reasons to do so, someone or something which hasn't only been there all along but, more importantly, has also been worthy of the frailty of human memory and forgetfulness. By plunging into the principles of forgiving and forgetting, one is expected to know what it is exactly which needs to be forgiven and forgotten at the least. At the most, one is expected to confess without reservation the sins which have grown into more horrendous proportions. Whatever it is that Mike Arroyo wants to be forgiven and forgotten, it's certain it isn't something this nation can draw pride from.
And yet you do not forgive and forget the forces of good. Ironically, in this nation of eternal vigilance the forces of good are buried---literally and figuratively---and forgotten long before their flesh and meat become one with the earth. Which goes without saying that the eternal vigilance may have slowly withered although it never died. On the contrary, the heart and soul of the democracy continues to burn, engulfing the heretics to the democracy in flames of insurmountable fury. You do not forgive and forget the forces of the good. Instead, the forces who pretend to be good are fed at the mouth of the furnace down to its innermost parcel.
You do not forgive and forget the true forces of good, and neither do you forgive and forget monstrous lapses in judgment and illegitimate claims to power. You do not pillage the treasury, steal votes and extinguish lives and simply get away with those moral atrocities by begging for the forgetfulness and forgiving attitude of this nation. You do those and you deserve jail for a lifetime and hell for eternity.
One should whip the evils like mad, going ballistic over these vile fungal infections in the society, nipping them at the bud instead of creaming them all the more. Even more so, pretenses to goodness should invite more and more barrage of harpoons, piercing right through the very flesh of that parody one spear at a time. Both at the same time, begging for this nation to be forgiving and forgetful and to accept one's pretense as a force of good are signs that the devil can disguise as an innocent sheep able to blend with the flock.
Follies of forgiving and forgetting and one's hallucination as a force of good are cheap shots.
While Mike Arroyo itches to forgive and to forget, Gloria Arroyo on the other hand itches to continue being, or at least to once and for all become, a 'force of good'. But being a force of good requires more than just unsolicited public pronouncements. Continuing being a force of good requires an untarnished persona right smack in the beginning and not beginning or pretending to be one after the damage has swept and stirred this nation into berserk. You do not echo words that are empty of conviction and leave them out to dry in the sun unless your intentions are clear. But more to being clear, public pronouncements should take their merit not from yet another survival strategy of a bereaving apologetic, whose guilt hangs in one's nose, but from the very core of a democracy. That is, it should bloom from the thirst for truth and the nobility of eternal vigilance, not from the thirst for power and the expediency of appeasing the wildfire of public sentiment.
Indeed, when you have someone willing to forgive and forget, you have all the reasons in the world to believe that to forgive and to forget requires something which is to be forgiven and to be forgotten. You do not forgive and forget someone or something inexistent for it is, after all, the worst sign of utter folly. Rather, you forgive and forget someone or something which gives you all the reasons to do so, someone or something which hasn't only been there all along but, more importantly, has also been worthy of the frailty of human memory and forgetfulness. By plunging into the principles of forgiving and forgetting, one is expected to know what it is exactly which needs to be forgiven and forgotten at the least. At the most, one is expected to confess without reservation the sins which have grown into more horrendous proportions. Whatever it is that Mike Arroyo wants to be forgiven and forgotten, it's certain it isn't something this nation can draw pride from.
And yet you do not forgive and forget the forces of good. Ironically, in this nation of eternal vigilance the forces of good are buried---literally and figuratively---and forgotten long before their flesh and meat become one with the earth. Which goes without saying that the eternal vigilance may have slowly withered although it never died. On the contrary, the heart and soul of the democracy continues to burn, engulfing the heretics to the democracy in flames of insurmountable fury. You do not forgive and forget the forces of the good. Instead, the forces who pretend to be good are fed at the mouth of the furnace down to its innermost parcel.
You do not forgive and forget the true forces of good, and neither do you forgive and forget monstrous lapses in judgment and illegitimate claims to power. You do not pillage the treasury, steal votes and extinguish lives and simply get away with those moral atrocities by begging for the forgetfulness and forgiving attitude of this nation. You do those and you deserve jail for a lifetime and hell for eternity.
One should whip the evils like mad, going ballistic over these vile fungal infections in the society, nipping them at the bud instead of creaming them all the more. Even more so, pretenses to goodness should invite more and more barrage of harpoons, piercing right through the very flesh of that parody one spear at a time. Both at the same time, begging for this nation to be forgiving and forgetful and to accept one's pretense as a force of good are signs that the devil can disguise as an innocent sheep able to blend with the flock.
Follies of forgiving and forgetting and one's hallucination as a force of good are cheap shots.
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