State of Denial

Who would have thought the the current AFP Chief of Staff is a psychoanalyst in the tradition of Sigmund Freud? That is his reaction to the report of UN special rapporteur Philip Alston. The man of UN is in denial

What is denial? No. It is not the river in Egypt. 'Denial is simply refusing to acknowledge that an event has occurred. The person affected simply acts as if nothing has happened, behaving in ways that others may see as bizarre.

In its full form, it is totally subconscious, and sufferers may be as mystified by the behavior of people around them as those people are by the behavior of the sufferers. It may also have a significant conscious element, where the sufferer is simply 'turning a blind eye' to an uncomfortable situation.'

If that is the case then Esperon and his 'president' is also in a state of denial. They have been turning a blind to the numerous and continuous killings of activists and journalists.

Let's just - for the sake of argument - assume that the military does not have a hand on the extra-judicial killings in our country. The question is: what has the organization been doing to STOP it? None. Task Force Usig in not the answer it is a forgettable footnote.

The government blames the relatives of the victims for not being cooperative with the authority. This does not say a lot on the attitude of the victim's relatives but it does says a lot on the reputation of the authority.

It took a foreigner from a powerful organization to convince the government to publicly release the controversial Melo Report. It just goes to show that this administration is more than willing to please the international community but is less than enthusiastic in educating its own constituents.

The Philippines is not a strong state. It is a state full of denials governed by individuals in denial.

The administration has denied that there was an on-going extra-judicial killings.
The administration has denied that there is a continuous repression of its critics.
The administration has denied that there was cheating in the last elections.

Let this administration continue denying the essential issues in our country. But let's make sure that we deny them power this coming elections. Do not vote people who perpetuate vicious lies and sordid tales of half-truths.