“They call it persecution. The country calls it justice. ” – @gendannylim

Why I am not surprised
Official Statement of Brigadier General Danilo Lim on the Declassified Mayuga Report

There is nothing surprising about the allegation that the declassified Mayuga Report has been watered-down to cover-up the 2004 election cheating involving no less than Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. There is nothing shocking about this. It only confirmed our nagging suspicion that the report will be used as a tool to conceal the previous administration’s crimes while paying false tribute to truth and accountability.

First, that it took another administration before the contents of the report were made public is enough reason to doubt its findings. It was submitted on January 26, 2006; yet, the previous government has kept it under wraps. This is despite the fact that the report exonerated Arroyo and her generals from allegations of election cheating. Probably afraid that the false conclusion of the report will further enrage the people, they covered up their own lies.

Second, the political context in which the five-member panel led by then Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga operated was anything but conducive to the people’s search for the truth. I am not surprised that the report concluded that there is no statement from the resource persons directly linking them and Arroyo to any election fraud or anomaly. I believe many of the testimonies were made under duress, coerced one way or another by the previous government to either lie or be economical with the truth.

However, I do not discount the fact that the report contains summary of testimonies, which virtually admitted irregularities and fraud in the 2004 elections. These testimonies must be lifted and refined as they may point us to the truth. The Mayuga report already failed to follow on these leads, it is now up to us to redeem these testimonies from their subdued state.

Lastly, the Aquino government must see this as its impetus to call for a fresh investigation of the 2004 election cheating involving Arroyo and her charlatan generals. I support the forthcoming investigation of the Department of Justice on this matter.

The entire truth must be unearthed; even it means revisiting a dark and despoiled past, resurrecting ghosts and opening up old wounds. The truth is the only thing that will put closure to this issue and the only thing that will restore the real values and principles of the uniformed service. It is the only thing that will keep the soldiers in the barracks, performing their duty to professionally serve and defend the Filipino people.

Some will call it as witch-hunting, while others will brand it as an excuse by the incumbent administration to “cover up” its own “failings”, but President Aquino must not waver. They call it persecution. The country calls it justice. The Aquino government must not vacillate in its search for the truth and from making Arroyo and her cohorts’ account for their crimes against the people. Now is the time of reckoning.

The patriotic and idealistic soldiers, sons and daughters of ordinary people, and who comprise the majority of the military establishment demand it. The nation demands it as well.

Image via interaksyon.com