Dear Imee (2)

Thank you for joining the throng of concerned citizens in expressing disgust against Police Staff Sergeant Jonel Nuezca for killing in cold blood a mother and son in Paniqui, Tarlac, last Dec. 20. And for added “ganda” points, you have also called out on his “padrinos” in the police force to be part of those who should be held accountable for such a dastardly act by a police officer. I agree, no one should be above the law. Police officers and their superiors are supposed to be protecting the people instead of killing them. But coming from you, such indignation seems to be hypocritical. I can only surmise that your indignant pronouncements could be a part of your grand design to perpetuate yourself in your position as senator, or for your aspirations to occupy a much higher post — perhaps to go back to the palace of your childhood and teenage years?

I remember that when you became a senior citizen sometime back, you had your glamorous picture printed on the cover of an elite fashion magazine. My daughter, Saquina Karla, wrote something for you that time on her social media page. It was published with permission by an online Mindanao-based news outlet, mindanews.com on Nov. 21, 2016. I have also secured my daughter’s permission to quote parts of it here.

It expressed how delicately beautiful you looked in that picture, with your bright red dress accenting your flawless dusky skin, clearly shown even in your tiny feet; and how this amazingly captivating picture belied the ugliness of the dark years of martial law that your father engendered. Some parts are worth quoting:

“…I saw you on a magazine cover and you were beautiful. But I also saw how charcoal-black and bloodstained your hands were, how your — funnily enough — dress was woven with blood, too. I saw the dead hovering the ground beneath your too pale feet (they looked delicate and I thought of porcelain glass) their ashen mouths screaming and yelling but all you hear is the muted buzzing of light bulbs and air conditioners.

“I probably shouldn’t judge you, because what have you done to be deserving of judgment? The sins of the father are not yours, neither are your mother’s. Perhaps it’s the poison you and your brother and mother continue to feed us. It came from lethe and smelled like freshly pressed money, tasted the iron of civilian blood.

“Perhaps, it is because I see you, and I see stubborn persistent ghosts, the lives your father took without dirtying his hands — why should he when he has people for that, when he can pay and pay and promise them a quick road to the easy life. I see you and your mother’s and your brother’s quiet disregard, wrapping yourselves in an intricately woven illusion as fine as spider webs and as lasting…”

Like my daughter, I also believe that your father’s sins are not yours. And indeed, I have no right to judge you. But then, you have enjoyed the glamorous and easy life while someone unfortunate was tortured to death for having questioned you in one forum back when you were at the helm of the defunct Kabataang Barangay. In your current life as senator, haven’t you also enjoyed being under the mantle of protection from no less than the one who resides in the palace of your early life? Remember how he defended you from the investigations done by state auditors and the House of Representatives sometime back, for misuse of tobacco excise funds during your term as governor of Ilocos Norte? I am sure he has done more to protect you, as well as your brother, too.

With all these, anything you say and do will always leave me questioning your motives. For me, this indignation at the “padrinos” protecting Nuezca is quite dubious. Haven’t you and your brother enjoyed being protected by no less than the sitting president? And haven’t you also protected some people who have done dirty work for you and your family?

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