By Rosario Brenda Gonzalez
And the breathing came slowly
Inhale, exhale
Forget for a while the great passion for equality and freedom
Focus on a piece of document
Stating a crime of violating provisions of a much-maligned law
37 petitions to the highest court of the land questioning its constitutionality
Yet there it is in front of you
Because you allegedly fought with government soldiers in an encounter
Where one of them died
In a place you have never been to
And with the kind of fragile physique and considerable age,
Terms used by brilliant minds,
You were still able to carry heavy fire arms
Roamed around the mountain evading a hot pursuit
All based on some rebel returnees’ allegations whose identities were not revealed
And unauthenticated photos,
Enough for solid evidence and due process
These vanish into thin air
Yet soldiers insist on filing charges
Prosecutors refusing to practice fundamental things learned in law school
This case even reached a regional trial court
Imagine the resources, not to mention time wasted
How to quantify stress, fear and anxiety
Cannot be determined
Still, more than a hundred similar cases abound
With more than 20 getting dismissed
A shared nightmare, this should disappear
Yet not that uncommon
As they who must uphold the law and protect the citizenry
Simply refuse to see the truth
To delay, distract
And detain
Those who have for decades championed
The rights of the masses
Disappearance and death are not impossible
For these, too happened to
Kindred souls and freedom fighters
Increasing, yet hidden from view
Because only the clowns and their kings and queens
Deserve center stage
In the time of crisis
To seek the roots of despair and hardships
To fight for those whose rights are trampled upon
Are brushed aside
Only to appear slowly and steadily
Not only in the fast-changing social media landscape
But in people’s consciousness
Resulting in acts of courage and triumph!
= = = = =
This human rights week, we start publishing the poetess’ poems as a victim of trumped up charges by the State using the weaponized Anti-Terrorism Law of 2020. The charges have since been junked by the Malolos RTC.
Rosario Brenda Gonzalez is a long-time development worker. A BA Journalism graduate of UP Diliman, Ms. Gonzalez has been a project evaluator and development management trainer for more than three decades. Prior to that, she was a human rights and church worker.
