Beyond the ‘Grand Mañanita’

FILIPINOS can always be trusted to be creative, particularly when angry. Calling the people’s mobilization during the commemoration of our independence a “Grand Mañanita” was so apropos if not creatively wicked. After all, we were celebrating our country’s birthday as an independent republic. But it also served as a dig at the abuse of power and privilege when National Capital Region Police Office chief Debold Sinas was allowed to get away with violating quarantine rules with the excuse that he was merely celebrating his birthday. Now, it is the people’s turn to celebrate our country’s birthday and it is a clear reminder to the Philippine National Police that they have to allow us to celebrate our own mañanita simply because they allowed Sinas to celebrate his.

Even then, the police still managed to impress their presence on us in a threatening way, fully armed with riot gear. It is beyond comprehension how such a show of force could descend on a peaceful rally in front of the De La Salle University on Taft Avenue. The images miserably backfired on the attempt by the state to impress upon us not to fear the anti-terror bill when what we saw was a police force with a size and demeanor extremely disproportional to whatever imagined threat a small group peacefully assembled to express its opposition to the bill can possibly bring on the state.