Wanted: modern-day PH ‘Joan of Arc’
As Cory Aquino was a catalyst in the massing of millions of people on Edsa that led to the ejection of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family from Malacañang in 1986, Sen. Leila de Lima might have been a rallying point against the rogue regime of President Duterte.
The trouble is, she is damaged goods herself. A personal aspect of her life, which many Filipinos find scandalous, is so hard to play down and to get past. To be sure, that is none of our business, but it was she herself who blurred that distinction by blatantly flirting with her own security personnel while she was secretary of the Department of Justice.
We may believe wholeheartedly that Du30 is just being vindictive with her because of her conscientious objection and vehement opposition to his “war on drugs,” which has to date claimed about 7,000 lives. But picturing her as our modern-day “Joan of Arc” just does not compute. We need a more upright heroine who can lead us against everything that has gone wrong with Du30’s way of governance.
We need one fast, before Bongbong Marcos gets proclaimed by the same notorious majority in the Supreme Court, who had no shame in voting to give his father a “hero’s burial.” How about you, Madam Vice President?
DANICA R. MORTIZ, MD
