An open letter to Vice-President Jejomar Binay

Editor’s note Update June 20, 2012 . I got this Open letter from a Facebook wall attachment. I asked the poster who sent the letter to her. She said the sender wishes to remain anonymous but will go by the name of Y.Nut . She adds “and his real description: he is, he says, 35 years of age, a college graduate, took his masters but failed to complete the course, employed, lives in quezon city from makati, and is married with one 6 year old son. Almost all his friends and acquaintances mostly his age feel the same way he does about the VP. He said he voted Gibo-Bayani in the last elections.

Dear Vice-President  Jejomar Binay:

We would like to caution you about your plans, statements, and ploy –- that’s what it boils down to  -– regarding the establishment of a museum to be called the Martial Law Museum. Your stated reason is: “we need to remind our youth that the freedom they now enjoy — the freedom to speak their minds freely, among others — was paid for with the sacrifices of brave Filipino patriots who may have belonged to different political groups but were united in the fight for freedom and democracy.”  BINGO! That sounds like you want to re-invent yourself further as one of the “brave Filipino patriots,” a manipulation of facts to be instilled in the minds of the young voters come 2016. You may not realize it but you are already beginning to look a tad too giddy and anxious at the prospect of becoming the next President of the Philippines; and, reading from what’s written and blinking on your forehead, “the sooner, the better.” But going back to the “story-line” that you will peddle to our youth, with the aid of this museum –– we might as well call it “The Binay for President Museum” —  the main objective will be to project an image of yourself, fantasy if you will, of an intrepid human-rights lawyer which you already lay down the foundation for this brain-washing by adding: “Often these rights are taken for granted. But we must remind them there was a time in our history when speaking one’s mind can land a person in jail, or worse.” BULLSEYE! You were, indeed, jailed, but we’re not even sure where and for how long and…WHY? The truth is nobody but a very few had heard about you until your appointment as Mayor of the city that is also the country’s financial center and where the homes of the wealthiest among Filipinos are located – the upscale sub-divisions built by the Ayalas such as Forbes Park, Dasmarinas Village, Bel-Air, Urdaneta, and San Lorenzo Village(s) and the other villages where high-end condominiums overlook the homes of the less fortunate poor citizens of Makati. The reaction of most people upon learning of your appointment in 1986 was, “who is he?” 

After your appointment as Mayor of Makati and utilizing the advantages that come with “incumbency,” and your closeness to the Cojuangcos, Peping and Cory, you were eventually elected and have since, for the last 26 years, jealously and possessively, regarded this city as your personal fiefdom, killing people that would otherwise be stumbling blocks to your self proclaimed “ownership.” We almost forgot that as early as your first term, your Vice-Mayor (Conchitina Sevilla Bernardo) quit, yes, resigned from her elective position, the only public official to ever do so (resign from an elected position), in pure and utter disgust and repugnance with the corruption she witnessed from within the City Hall initiated, orchestrated, implemented and cornered by you and a few key people you formed into a select group. Everyone that has done business in Makati will attest to that specially but not exclusively, the developers of many a high-end residential condominiums where you invariably wangled a couple of units for your own possession, as “grease money” for the various building permits needed from City Hall and the privilege of a “harmonious hassle-free relationship” with the Mayor’s office — walang harassment.  Of course, the museum will help erase that stigma (goon, mamamatay tao, at ubod na kurap) attached to your reputation and lift you up to heights of patriotic nobility as a “freedom fighter,” “human-rights lawyer,” and enemy to “sinister dictators” such as Marcos.

Former President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared Martial Law around the time you could not get yourself elected even as Councilor of Makati, much less Mayor. The declaration of Martial Law was in accordance to the Constitution because President Marcos was a lawyer like you. He was, it is a known fact, a brilliant one, which is something you’ve never been accused of, at least that much can be said about you as a lawyer – mediocre at best.  The “museum idea,” however,  is a rather clever one Mr. Veep,  because the proverbial “two birds with one stone” is embedded in it –- a “new Binay image” and a stab against the young Marcos (Senator Bongbong Marcos) by name association, whom you count as a possible nemesis, formidable no doubt, for the highest post of the land come 2016.  But human-rights violations or simply, violations of individual rights, are still a thing of the present and has continued through all administrations post martial-law, reaching its peak during GMA’s time when the country earned the label of being “the most dangerous country, not at war, to live in for a journalist.”  Knowing that, you could have been more useful as “guardian of human-rights,”  kuno, by investigating and bringing to justice the perpetrators of the journalists killed in their line of duty, and remove the “most dangerous country” tag and dishonor which, by the way,  was never the case at anytime during Martial Law. But human-rights has never been and still is not your real concern. That was merely your pretext to enter the world of politics. Yours is about greed and lust for power which makes obvious the political motive in your sudden “interest” in museums and tourism. Your burning ambition may be getting the better of you, Vice,  as revealed in your comparison of Martial Law to the Holocaust, your avowed “inspiration” in building this museum. Give us a break, bro! We’re young but not born yesterday; however, contortedly, this actually gets interesting and we’re anxious to see how you will twist around the facts, in explaining why you have allied yourself with prominent supporters of Martial Law and in the case of Juan Ponce Enrile, not only supporter but the administrator of Martial Law no less, and like Marcos, another brilliant lawyer it must be added.   So how on earth will this museum -– “The Binay for President Museum” — explain the roles of these major players during Martial Law without begging the question of “why, then, are you allied with them now?”  You imply Martial Law to be comparable to the Holocaust which we know was  the systematic, state-sponsored killing of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators and you are now sleeping with its’ administrator?? Firstly, that is insulting to the Jews who were killed in the holocaust for you to make that comparison and as a consequence, trivialize it by bringing it down to the realm of political gimmickry. You should be ashamed of yourself and apologize to all the Jews around the world. Secondly, if a similar number of Filipinos were killed which is a preposterous suggestion, what then was Martial Laws’ equivalent of Hitler’s “Final Solution?” And who was the Himmler of Martial Law, may we ask? Enrile or Ramos? And where about was our version of “Auschwitz” located? And what was Ambassador Danding Cojuangco’s role during those years under Marcos or will you not dare cross swords with him?  Who constructed the gas chambers? Mr. Vice President, you really owe the Jews big time.  Apologize NOW, please.

Recently, you made a tactical alliance with, again, another prominent supporter of Martial Law, former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada who, as Mayor of San Juan, was successful in transforming that sleepy municipality into a vibrant town under the political environment of Martial Law. The father of  another supporter of yours in the last elections, Senator Chiz Escudero, was also a cabinet minister of Marcos, and one of the ablest ones, if we may add. If it’s only one person, former President Ferdinand Marcos, you intend to vilify in that museum, how credible can that be, not to mention, accurate? And didn’t you just recommend to the President sometime ago for the late President Marcos to be buried in Ilocos Norte with full military honors. At least that’s what you told the Ilocanos –- with full military honors. Contrary to your interpretation of Martial Law, drawing your inspiration from the Holocaust as you claim, Senate President Enrile had this to say a few months ago, and we quote:  “President Marcos is dead. He cannot defend himself against scurrilous attacks against him. I have not known him to have sent people to a Siberian concentration camp like Stalin, or to extermination camps such as Auschwitz like Hitler, or to killing fields like Pol Pot, or to mass graves like Saddam Hussein. And so, as one who served in his regime for many years and as his secretary, later minister of national defense for almost 16 years, I would like to seek Wallace’s (a columnist of Manila Standard Today) clarification about what he said about Marcos being a mass murderer and torturer.”  That pretty much contradicts head-on your view of Martial Law though you were not really in the same rank or level of  an “Enrile,” or a “Ninoy Aquino,”  then, whether on the side of Martial Law or against, so your view must have been from the experience of a “very minor player,” notwithstanding how you will, predictably, enhance your role and, as we said in the beginning, re-invent yourself. Let’s be frank, Vice: who had heard of Jejomar Binay before you were appointed Mayor of the country’s premiere city? Let us also be clear about one thing, bro: we are against the imposition of Martial Law or any form of repression and dictatorial rule now. Martial Law, then, we will leave it to historians to view it with objectivity and not listen to propaganda from the Marcos Loyalists or Yellow Zombies as they are called nowadays, or their crony oligarch controlled media –- notably, Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABiaS-CBN.

With today’s information technology, let us warn you that you may find it difficult to fabricate a “historical story-line” that never occurred in the Philippines akin to the Holocaust. The young ones, myself included, see through your political machinations and besides, isn’t it way too early to be campaigning for the Presidency. This is premature politicking as evidenced by this attempt at demonizing political opponents coupled with your own pretensions at heroism with a generous amount of self-aggrandizement. The people, specially the young,  are tired of “old politics” peppered with self-contradictions, self-praises, and outright lies. The need to move forward, propelled by the strength of a unified nation, eludes you, Mr. Binay. Your TRUE COLOR is divisive in nature. You will be 73 or 74 years old by 2016 sir, no longer a spring-chicken. Medyo, gurang na po. You are the age of my lolo, 69 yrs. old,  and the grandfathers of the age bracket you wish to peddle this lie to.  You must consider well your “final act” because your ambition seems to preclude any remorse or explanation for allegedly being the biggest local-executive thief of all time, at least in this country. Whatever achievements you’ve had in Makati, any moron can duplicate with the kind of annual budget the city has available –- P20B/yr. Let’s just say the city has had an average budget of P10B a year for the last 26 years; that’s P260B that went through your hands, your sticky hands, which is quite a sum of money –- just 15% of that is P39B but we know you have even more bro. Mr. Binay, do you really want to impress us? I’ll give you a clue: 1) Sign a waiver on the secrecy laws governing your Peso and Dollar Accounts (don’t be a wise-ass and tell us your SALN does that already because it does not); 2) Pursue an investigation of what really happened in the infamous Hacienda Luisita massacre and the subsequent killings of the farmer’s union leaders and bring justice to them.  If you do both, we, our age group (16 yrs. old to 35 yrs. old) will believe everything you say and furthermore, give you a snappy Boy Scout salute.

By the way, we, too,  are  planning the establishment of a museum ourselves, not like yours which we can’t afford, but one that will exist in cyber-space. The advantage of that is we can stay open 24/7 all year round. It will catalogue all properties and assets discovered to be yours or belonging to your immediate family that you or they have not declared; but, no worries, we will verify them meticulously, judiciously, and fairly  before including them as one of the “museum exhibits” representing your vast material wealth after 26 years of plundering the City of Makati.  We will accept all leads and information  and scanned-documents from the general public that will help unravel the locations and all other pertinent information in connection with your loot, assets, and dummy corporations wherein they are hidden.  Four years of that, 24/7 open to the public, all days of the year will net quite a big discovery, we are sure, as to your real net worth starting with real estate properties some of which we’ve already identified in Cavite, Batangas (nice farm), Makati, Nueva Ecija, California (USA)…etc. This way, our museum will offer a contrast to your Martial Law museum – truth versus your personal historical revisionism as vehicle for your launching of “the new Jejomar Binay” in the guise of a museum.  Matagal nyo na po kaming ginagawang mga walang sariling pag-iisip at kaya nyong pag-bobobolahin. Lolo, baka kayo po ang magulat. Wala po kaming nakitang pagbabago mula nung 1986.  Malinaw po sa amin yun. Magandang araw po sa inyo at sa lahat ng nakapagbasa nito. Mabuhay ang mga kabataang Pilipino! God bless the Philippines.