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One of the cardinal Christian sins is envy, which is closely akin to
ingratitude, another vile human trait. When a fellowman rises to a
position of wealth and influence, not a few people will pull him
down out of envy.
When someone does a heroic act, there will be
faultfinders who will belittle the good deed. This is a common fault
called “crab mentality” of Filipinos. We look down with disdain
on glorious achievements by our fellowmen in whatever
field—business, politics, academics or the arts.
People with an iconoclastic bent tend to attack
the figure or reputation of those ascending to the top. They hate
the success of others out of spite, ill will or jealousy.
We see this strain of human behavior in those
who have deprecated the role of Sen. Loren Legarda in the release of
ABS-CBN journalist Ces Drilon, her two cameramen and a Mindanao
professor from nine days of captivity by members of the Abu Sayyaf
kidnap gang.
They accused the senator of “writing the
script” of the press conference on the release of Drilon and the
other captives “to make her look like the hero.” They ascribed
malicious motives to her role, saying she was “advancing her
political interest” as a probable presidential candidate in the
2010 election.
Legarda took the criticisms with quiet dignity,
consoling herself with the thought that she had done “what ought
to be done at a time when Ces and her fellow victims were on the
verge of accepting their fate of not seeing the world again.”
“What is most important is that the kidnap
victims are now free,” she said, hoping they would be given
justice for their most traumatic experience.
Legarda left her Senate duties when Ces and her
ABS-CBN bosses, Maria Ressa and Chari Villa, sought her help in
negotiating with the kidnappers for the victims’ release at the
most crucial period of their captivity.
The senator has had enough experience in
negotiating with rebels and outlaws for the safe release of their
victims. She had done it for Arlene de la Cruz, another TV
journalist; army Maj. Noel Buan; and five police and military
officers—all kidnap victims of rebels and extremists—on
different occasions a few years back.
She did these difficult tasks with tact and
courage without thinking of reward, fame or glory.
“Ces told me that she can no longer take it,
According to her, the kidnappers could have killed her. She said
that if we did not act that day, she could have been raped, she
could have been beheaded by her captors,” Legarda recalled her
conversation with Drilon.
In those tense, dreadful moments, Ces could have
been broken in spirit without the comforting words of Legarda,
without her moral support. That Legarda was a “lifeline” to Ces
was acknowledged by the reporter herself in a press conference and
in interviews with the press.
Ces’ uncle, Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Edgardo Espiritu, who admitted paying a P5 million raised by her
niece’s family to the kidnappers, had paid tribute to Legarda for
working hard to ensure Ces’ release. In a phone interview with Vic
Lima, the envoy said their family “is more than grateful to
Legarda” for helping them negotiate Ces’ safe release.
“She [Legarda] should be commended and thanked
for, rather than criticized,” Espiritu said in Filipino.
Legarda said she is not disturbed by the
innuendoes on her role. She lamented that while “armchair
analysts” freely talked about the kidnapping after its resolution,
they were “conspicuously absent at the height of the crisis.”
She said she negotiated for the release of Ces
and her companions without discussing any ransom coming to their
captors. She conceded that ransom might have been paid, but said
there was none that she knew of while negotiating with the
kidnappers.
She learned of the P5-million ransom paid by Ces’
family only when she heard Ambassador Espiritu’s revelation on
radio.
It is time for us to change our attitudes and
values. We cannot succeed as individuals or as a race if we cannot
discard jealousy and hate over the triumph of our fellow citizens
for a better life.
agr0324@yahoo.com
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