What are you afraid of?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Armida Siguion-Reyna

10/23/2009

NEW YORK — I missed the event only because I wasn’t in the country when it took place, but the drama I could sense even from the Internet. Here, for instance, is a direct lift from the first page article of the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Joseph Estrada’s declaration of his intentions to regain the office from which he was illegally booted out in 2001.

“Some came barefoot, others in well-worn slippers for what their idol described as ‘the last performance of my life.’ Many more wore orange T-shirts emblazoned with his nickname: Erap.”

I couldn’t have said it better. Reading the phrase made me emotional, lalo na siguro if I were there, as it underscored just how much the man is loved by his supporters. They would go see him no matter how they looked, no matter what they wore, and I bet they would have stayed put had it rained in Tondo last Wednesday evening.

The Philippine Star took note of Erap’s choice of Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay as his vice presidential candidate: “With Binay, Estrada said, he could rest assured that his vice president would not be plotting behind his back to bring him down.” Erap, according to the Star, also stressed that “Binay could help turn the country into another Makati, a city where the masses receive heavy social protection including free education, health care and even free admission in movie houses for senior citizens.”

That wasn’t mere politesse, for he had always admired Binay’s achievements in Makati, and this he would always repeat to anyone who cared to listen. In a short speech he delivered in one of the two performances of Aawitan Kita sa Makati that he had watched, Erap said: “Ang senior citizens ng Makati, alagang-alaga. Lahat na lang, libre. Kung di ko lang gano’n kamahal ang San Juan, puwede na akong lumipat dito.”

I was already here when the Erap-Binay tandem was confirmed; I admit naiyak talaga ako sa tuwa. Words cannot describe my happiness for my friend the Mayor, who, despite his steady climb in the senatorial ratings, felt his executive abilities would only be wasted as a legislator. For him it was either the presidency or the next position, and I guess he didn’t want to go the way of present Manila Mayor Fred Lim who ran for the Senate in 2004, won, but felt useless there, as legislation wasn’t his thing.

The Star further quoted a line Estrada gave his followers: “I have followed the law and I have already forgotten all the lies and charges leveled against me. But you did not leave me.” I imagined the tearful reaction to it.

For all that’s been said against Erap, he doesn’t hold grudges. When he was in Tanay, he entertained even the people who were responsible for putting him there. In one of his birthdays, my jaw literally dropped when I saw this one person walking in, naturingan niyang dating Cabinet member who betrayed him, but there again in his company, as if nothing had happened.

And that wasn’t the first time. Past “traitors” popped in his brother’s wake and his beloved mother’s. They sat beside him, chatted and exchanged pleasantries as if they were still in the same camp, while we who surrounded them couldn’t but help cast secret glances at each other, all of us amazed by the man’s capacity to forgive.

Talking about drama, here’s the Manila Bulletin’s take: “Thousands cheered former President Joseph Estrada’s much-awaited public announcement to seek a fresh mandate in the May 2010 presidential elections during the genuine opposition’s proclamation rally late Wednesday night in Tondo, Manila, the city of his birth… made in front of the Sto. Niño Church nestled in one of Metro Manila’s poorest districts where Estrada was born 72 years ago. He rose to fame and became one of the highest paid stars in the movies and became the 13th President of the Philippines.

“The mammoth crowd in Wednesday’s proclamation rally indicated that Estrada’s pro-poor platform continues to resonate among the poorest-of-the-poor who gave him 10.8 million votes to win the 1998 presidential elections.

“Speaking in both Pilipino and English before a huge crowd chanting ‘Erap, Erap’ Estrada said that having firmed up his decision to run for president again ‘only means I am more than prepared to confront the storms along the way as we face a difficult chapter in our nation’s history.’

“Estrada is widely seen by leading political luminaries as the survivor to reckon with in next year’s race after humbly resurrecting himself from the agony of universal humiliation.”

And of course there’s this paper’s account: “The Erap magic was clearly alive and well yesterday as former President Joseph Estrada and Makati Mayor Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay formally declared their candidacies for president and vice president, respectively, with energetic thousands in attendance in Tondo… Estrada supporters and leaders from Metro Manila and the provinces all over showed their support to the former President and his chosen vice presidential bet…”

But never mind the Daily Tribune, for this broadsheet has always seen it fit to cover as much of the deposed leader as possible. O, sige na rin, huwag nang isama ang MB, as it has likewise been generally on the opposition side of things. It’s what the PDI and the Star cannot deny that gets me, and in a good way, too. Hindi nila maitanggi, hindi nila maitago ang katotohanang mahal si Erap ng mga taong nagpunta sa kanyang deklarasyon.

The written word lets it out, mas maliwanag pa ito sa video. I’ll wager even the clearly pro-Noynoy networks had no choice but to let the coverage speak for itself and allow that same coverage to woo viewers nationwide to the same truth: Erap is running again, and deservedly so.

Notice that I do not say he is going for reelection, for the Constitution specifically bars the president from doing exactly that. Erap did not finish his term, it’s the incumbent President, or at least the one who says she is, who is not eligible for the same position.

What I can’t understand is that the ones who say he won’t win are at the same time afraid he will win. So, ano ba talaga? You think he has no chances of recovering what’s been stolen from him, what are you afraid of? E di patakbuhin n’yo na lang? Now, if he wins, and he will — ibang kuwento na iyon.

Vox populi, vox Dei.

(For comments, write to armida114@yahoo.com)

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