Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing Rome, Italy 21/08/2014
I have returned on
my free will to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our rights and
freedoms through nonviolence.
I seek no
confrontation. I only pray and will strive for a genuine national
reconciliation founded on justice.
I am prepared for
the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my spiritual
adviser, many of my tested friends and a few of my most valued political
mentors.
A death sentence
awaits me. Two more subversion charges, both calling for death penalties, have
been filed since I left three years ago and are now pending with the courts.
I could have opted
to seek political asylum in America, but I feel it is my duty, as it is the
duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis.
I never sought nor
have I been given assurances or promise of leniency by the regime. I return
voluntarily armed only with a clear conscience and fortified in the faith that
in the end justice will emerge triumphant.
According to
Gandhi, the willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to
insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man.
Three years ago
when I left for an emergency heart bypass operation, I hoped and prayed that
the rights and freedoms of our people would soon be restored, that living
conditions would improve and that blood-letting would stop.
Rather than move
forward, we have moved backward. The killings have increased, the economy has
taken a turn for the worse and the human rights situation has deteriorated.
During the martial
law period, the Supreme Court heard petitions for Habeas Corpus. It is most
ironic, after martial law has allegedly been lifted, that the Supreme Court
last April ruled it can no longer entertain petitions for Habeas Corpus for
persons detained under a Presidential Commitment Order, which covers all
so-called national security cases and which under present circumstances can
cover almost anything.
The country is far
advanced in her times of trouble. Economic, social and political problems
bedevil the Filipino. These problems may be surmounted if we are united. But we
can be united only if all the rights and freedoms enjoyed before September 21,
1972 are fully restored.
The Filipino asks
for nothing more, but will surely accept nothing less, than all the rights and
freedoms guaranteed by the 1935 Constitution—the most sacred legacies from the
Founding Fathers.
Yes, the Filipino
is patient, but there is a limit to his patience. Must we wait until that
patience snaps?
The nation-wide
rebellion is escalating and threatens to explode into a bloody revolution.
There is a growing cadre of young Filipinos who have finally come to realize
that freedom is never granted, it is taken. Must we relive the agonies and the
blood-letting of the past that brought forth our Republic or can we sit down as
brothers and sisters and discuss our differences with reason and goodwill?
I have often
wondered how many disputes could have been settled easily had the disputants
only dared to define their terms.
So as to leave no
room for misunderstanding, I shall define my terms:
1. Six years ago, I
was sentenced to die before a firing squad by a Military Tribunal whose
jurisdiction I steadfastly refused to recognize. It is now time for the regime
to decide. Order my IMMEDIATE EXECUTION OR SET ME FREE.
I was sentenced to
die for allegedly being the leading communist leader. I am not a communist,
never was and never will be.
2. National
reconciliation and unity can be achieved but only with justice, including
justice for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers. There can be no deal with a
Dictator. No compromise with Dictatorship.
3. In a revolution
there can really be no victors, only victims. We do not have to destroy in
order to build.
4. Subversion stems
from economic, social and political causes and will not be solved by purely
military solutions; it can be curbed not with ever increasing repression but
with a more equitable distribution of wealth, more democracy and more freedom,
and
5. For the economy
to get going once again, the workingman must be given his just and rightful
share of his labor, and to the owners and managers must be restored the hope
where there is so much uncertainty if not despair.
On one of the long
corridors of Harvard University are carved in granite the words of Archibald
Macleish:
“How shall freedom
be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked
by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma.
Always, and in the final act, by determination and faith.”
I return from exile
and to an uncertain future with only determination and faith to offer—faith in
our people and faith in God.
Source: Phil.gov. Official Gazzette http://www.gov.ph/1983/08/21/the-undelivered-speech-of-senator-benigno-s-aquino-jr-upon-his-return-from-the-u-s-august-21-1983/
