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BY RHICK LARS VLADIMER ALBAY
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IT’S BEEN said that the first rough draft of history is written by journalists. This speaks true especially here in the Philippines, where the opinion of the majority is highly influenced by the media. We’ve all, as a country, witnessed a lot of dark chapters for the Philippines in these past few years, mostly through our television screens, also through newspapers and social media.
The Maguindanao Massacre, corruption charges against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, stacking allegations of Election fraud, Janet Napoles and her Pork Barrel Scam, the Disbursement Acceleration Program scandal, the Pemberton Incident, the untimely death of 44 Special Action Force members, the futile dialogues for the Bangsamoro Agreement. The list goes on indefinitely. What do all of these issues have in common? In not a single one of them have we achieved any semblance of a resolution.
But who is to blame? Some would say our judicial system for continuing to baffle us year in and year out in its incompetence and lack of backbone. Some would say our elected officials for prioritizing self interest and political gain over justice and fairness. But could we, the noble citizens of the Republic of the Philippines be also partly to blame?
It is claimed that Filipino people is a very forgiving race, after all we are now allies with one of our former colonizers, and here incarcerated politicians found guilty of graft and corruption still manage to get elected. But many would disagree and say no. We are not a race that forgives effortlessly, we are a race that very easily forgets.
Perhaps it’s just simply how we’ve come to adapt to the cycle our nation is stuck in, with new setbacks being dug up before we can even settle on solutions for the problems already piled in front of us. Older issues being pushed back and farther and farther away from our national consciousness, until we finally reach a point wherein the Filipino people have just simply lost all their interest in the subject.
It’s been more than five years since the Maguindanao Massacre put the Philippines on the map for most number of journalists gunned down in their line of work, nearly two years since the Pork Barrel Scam broke headlines, and only six months since the death of Jennifer Laude, but the progress and media coverage for these national issues has plateaued. Very soon they may lack our nation’s attention completely.
It’s a proven fact that once an issue has exhausted its airtime and has lost the interest of the people, it descends into obscurity until very few people are left to support and fight for the cause. Many concerns of great importance have fallen to this fate, gone unresolved and left to die. We should not let this happen again and again.
There’s a simple mantra we can adapt to undo this- Never forget. Tired of the lack of movement and troubled by the Supreme Court ruling that bans the Live Media Broadcast of the Ampatuan Trials, journalist, activists, even concerned citizens took to social media and announced Never Forget, a call for justice in the Maguindanao Massacre case.
Although since then still very little development has come to light, reminding the country of the animosity we’ve gone through can spark awareness and keep the fire burning. The Filipino people should not just forgive and forget all the intrusions and crimes done against us.
It’s a simple call to arms, Never Forget. In a country where state controversies dominate our new cycle daily, and justice moves at a snail’s pace, this is the easiest way we can contribute to the national cause. To never forget the 58 slaughtered for political gain, to never forget the millions stolen from us by the very people we put into office, to never forget the trespasses done to us by other countries, to never forget how Filipino blood has been spilled so easily in the name of a futile cause.
These two simple words, Never Forget./PN
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