Esperlita and Pentecostes, Hope and Pentecost? by Fr. Robert Reyes

It was with an an odd combination of feelings that I read about the recent arrest and detention of Esperlita “Perling” Garcia accused of Libel by Gonzaga, Cagayan Mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr. On the one hand, I felt indignation at another case of political harassment against the actions of a concerned citizen. On the other hand, I also felt a certain lightness and even amusement at the interesting contrast of the names of the accused and her accuser. The first name of the accused is Esperlita (Spanish diminutive of hope or little hope) while the family name of the accuser is Pentecostes (the Spanish of Pentecost or the descent of the Holy Spirit).

While Pentecost is an event teeming with hope and life, this is not what the bearer of the name from Cagayan is radiating. Mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr. has just accused Esperlita Garcia with libel, claiming that “[Garcia] portrayed him(me) as a very bad person on Facebook. She has been making up stories about the supposed opposition of the people of Gonzaga against mining when in truth, there is no such resistance here now.” (Cf. “ Arrest sparks row over cybercrime arrest” by Gil Cabacungan and Melvin Gascon, Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 23, 2012).

I am not at all surprised at the Mayor’s decision to file a libel case against Esperlita. Isn’t this a typical tool employed by those in power against the virtually voiceless and powerless? What are a good number of landowners doing against agrarian reform beneficiaries? Several landowners in Negros Occidental over the past years have been filing civil and criminal cases against farmer beneficiaries of the land reform program to block their legal claim over land that has been awarded them by government. The charges range from trespassing, arson to theft (stealing sugarcane). What did Governor Mitra do when the late Doc Soc of Palawan accused him of irregularities in the handling of the Malampaya funds? Doc Soc, expectedly was slapped with a libel case which he did not mind and even welcomed just that he will have a chance to repeat his charges against the governor in court. Ten years ago father and son Enriles also accused me of libel which resulted in a nine year long series of court hearings under two judges in Quezon City.

Less than two months ago, sixteen nurses in Taguig were fired because they “liked” the critical comments on the status of Dr. Jocelyn Imbao, a former volunteer doctor, against the administration of the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital. And when some of the nurses tried to secure their certificates of employment the hospital also did not release the said document to them.

Esperlita and the nurses compared to the Mayor of Taguig and the Mayor of Gonzaga in Cagayan Province are small fries swimming in a sea controlled by big and voracious fish. Secretary Lacierda is correct in saying that this is not the case of e-Martial Law since the Cyber-Crime Law is under a 120 day TRO. Lacierda explains that Esperlita’s case is under Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code which carries lighter penalties compared to the pending Cyber Crime Law which imposes the higher penalty of “prison mayor” or mandatory imprisonment. In effect Lacierda offers Esperlita some consolation that her penalty is negligible compared to the pending Cyber Crime law. Should we then feel grateful to you Secretary Lacierda?

Mayor Pentecostes added that he will not withdraw his case against Esperlita in order to “teach her a lesson for her arrogance.” Similarly, the summary dismissal of the nurses in Taguig logically flows from the same authoritative and punitive stance of wanting to teach the nurses a lesson for their disobedience. The law is usually used by those in power who hire lawyers armed with an awesome cache of legal artillery. What do small citizens like Esperlita and the Taguig Nurses have? Neither lawyers nor legal and political connection, except for the truth that they directly experience and endure in their very flesh and blood.

There is hope because of Esperlita and the Taguig nurses. There is hope because of citizens, netizens in particular who in spite of legal and political insignificance put their voices together for the truth.

I wonder whether arrogance was one of the gifts of the spirit during the first Pentecost? Far be it, for in that hidden room in the attic, there were no lawyers and politicians, only little, humble people whose simplicity and poverty pleased God to choose them to be bearers of truth and bearers of hope as well…

Fr. Roberto P. Reyes
October 23, 2012
Juan de Plasencia Franciscan Novitiate
Liliw, Laguna

Source: www.facebook.com/notes/faith-based-congress/esperlita-and-pentecostes-hope-and-pentecost-by-fr-robert-reyes/3917671103343

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