Original sin July 11, 2006

Jamby Madrigal, of course, is perfectly capable of defending herself from the irascibly silly Raul Gonzalez who means to pin her down on charges of treason. But frankly, I don't know why she shouldn't just say: "What crime have I committed? It's not as though I called up a Comelec commissioner during the counting of votes and excused that as a lapse in judgment."

Indeed, I don't know why that shouldn't be the standard answer of everyone the Newspeak Department of Justice and Newspeak justice secretary means to hale to court on any charge, trumped-up or not.

I don't know why Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez shouldn't say: "What crime have I committed in filing an impeachment rap against Arroyo? It's not as if I called up Garci, demanding that he make me win by a million votes, and called it a lapse in judgment."

I don't know why the Batasan 5 shouldn't say: "What crime have we committed in showing solidarity with the soldiers who wanted to withdraw support from Arroyo? It's not as if we called up a Comelec commissioner known for telling the world he learned the tricks of his trade from Leonardo Perez, Marcos' Comelec chief who did not know how to count, wanting to know how he was making 'pagpapataas sa inyo Ma'am.' And called that a lapse in judgment."

I don't know why Gen. Francisco Gudani and Col. Alexander Balutan shouldn't say: "What crime have we committed in appearing before the Senate to tell the world what we know about the conduct of elections in the south? It's not as if we pestered Garci, who seemed harassed and peeved at some point by the sheer persistence or kakulitan of the calls, demanding to know if there was any danger of the cheating being found out and being grateful to be told that 'Namfrel ho sympathetic na sa atin.' And called that a lapse in judgment."

I don't know why everyone, Right, Left, Center, or Nowhere, accused of subversion, rebellion, sedition, desertion, treason, or whatever "on" the irascibly silly Newspeak justice secretary can think of, shouldn't say: "What crime have we committed in trying to oust someone pretending to be the president? It's not as if we called up the Father of all Liars, to complement our own Mother of all Liars, and agreed that he should kidnap an impoverished public school teacher, or hold his family hostage, just so she could not tell the world of the cheating that she saw and thereby teach that world a thing or two about honesty. It's not as if we did that and said, ah, I lapsed in judgment, I...am...sorry."

I'm still waiting for the irascibly silly and Newspeak justice secretary to charge me with something, anything, because that is what I'd love to say to him.

In this month when we mark the first anniversary of Arroyo's "lapse in judgment apology" to the nation, it is good to remember that there is an unforgivable crime in this country that remains unpunished. The "Hello Garci" episode is the Original Sin. The "Hello Garci" episode is the sin to eclipse all sins. Thenceforth, anything and everything become permissible. You have someone caught on tape cheating the hell out of an election, and indeed being culpable for a host of other sins, among them conspiracy to kidnap, and that is paraded as a lapse in judgment, then every other crime in this country becomes a lapse in judgment.

Of course Madrigal et al. have every reason not to justify their actions as a lapse in judgment because what they have done is no crime at all. What they have done is a service to the people. Seeking the path of peace instead of war is not a crime, particularly when the war has "wag the dog," written all over it. Filing an impeachment charge against a usurper is not a crime at all, particularly if you are a bishop and you believe that it's a sin to tell a lie, or be governed by one. Appearing before the Senate, in contravention of an illegal, immoral and totally venomous order to cease and desist, in order to make the truth known, is not a crime, particularly if you are a soldier who believes in duty, honor, and all the things soldiering at its best stands for.

My advice therefore more properly applies to people who are accused of evading taxes, notably the entertainers, whose pictures are splashed all over the front pages of newspapers to embarrass them because they are still capable of being embarrassed. I don't know why they shouldn't say: "What crime have we committed in not declaring our income? It's not as if we called up the Serpent who speaks with a forked tongue or a thick accent and suggested that he throw away the ballot boxes where the voters have declared their preferences."

My advice more properly applies to the forgers and con men and the petty hustlers that congregate in the fringes of city hall and every other government office offering their dark and shadowy services. If they are caught, I don't know why they shouldn't say: "What crime have we committed? It's not as if we called up the Beast that goes by many names and many faces and asked that he manipulate and falsify and deceive and otherwise unleash lies and untruth upon the earth."

My advice more properly applies to rapists who, until government made a show of abolishing the death penalty in time for Arroyo's audience with the Pope, were first in line to have poison flow in their veins. I don't know why they shouldn't say: "What crime have we committed? We just raped one person, we did not rape a nation."

If you are a Christian, you believe that being born with original sin, you will go to hell or purgatory (I forget which) when you die unless you are baptized. In soul as in body, in religion as in politics, in heaven as in earth, there is no end of ways to get baptized. How to expunge the original sin called "Hello Garci"?

Get angry. Go figure.

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