The Bigger Picture

Monday, 28 February 2011 00:32

Written by Dr. Edna E. A. Co

President Noynoy Aquino graced the 112th alumni homecoming at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) on 19 February 2011 in Baguio City. The president was keynote speaker and special guest. However, the talks were focused on the Armed Forces of the Philippines and its bitter struggle against corruption, the suicide of former Chief of Staff and PMA alumnus Angelo Reyes, and in spite of his absence in the homecoming, there were also talks about another alumnus, now Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. There were ill talks about Trillanes’ “uncavalier” behavior during the senate inquiry on corruption allegations against General Angelo Reyes, among others. “Arrogant” and “uncavalier” were how Trillanes was described by some fellow alumni. In a forum at the University of the Philippines Diliman, the other day, someone asked the senator “wouldn’t you have been more circumspect and polite” toward Angelo Reyes during the senate inquiry – after all you both came from the same institution (the PMA) and Reyes was much senior than you are”?

The reply of Senator Trillanes was: “ If you know General Reyes well, he had a tendency to grandstand and put himself and his good deeds on center stage. In the beginning, all of us in the senate were courteous to him – until he started asking questions almost incessantly on Col. Rabusa. I felt I had to interject before General Reyes could harass Rabusa… and I do not regret having interjected there” (and was portrayed to be impolite).

Of course the media captured and played up on the sharp statements of the senator, but apparently failed to catch the context, the entire scene nor the scene prior to the sharp outcries, or that which triggered such controversial utterance.

Observers saw the dramatic outburst and exchanges between the PMA alumni, but failed to see the full scenario and the bigger picture. We see the “arrogance” and the poker face of the soldier, but not the heart and soul of the man. We see his stubborn stance, but not the passion and love of country by this man. We see his faults and fumble, but not the breadth of his vision. Was rudeness a higher concern than the inquest on corruption which probably is the mother of all insolence?

The other week as I sat in the gallery behind Senator Trillanes during his first-ever deliberation on the senate floor of his authored bill on the career executive system, I was nervous that he might scrabble for the right word to argue and respond to the questions of Senators Pia Cayetano, Drilon, and Enrile because Senator Trillanes was certainly not the most articulate person. But I was wrong. He replied convincingly. He might not be the regular debater one expects, neither has he the eloquence of a lawyer, but certainly Senator Trillanes knew what he was talking about. He spoke his ideas as clearly as crystal. Senator Trillanes spoke from the heart and mind, and could care less about how he said it.

I should not have worried had I seen the bigger sense of things.

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