Ephemeral

When he became president he says he wrote his Last Will and Testament. And in it he instructed, that within twenty four hours, he is to be cremated and his ashes thrown, wherever. "Kung saan nyo gusto" he said, waving his hand as though the thought merited no more than that. "And then, you can forget me."

And it was on this point that all of us, his visitors at that time, vehemently and stubbornly disagreed. Thinking Pinoy - TP said later, "Hindi na para sa kanya yon. It's for us." It is, after all the living who gives meaning to death.

And anyway, it isn't as if it is possible to forget this man, no matter what side of the national divide one sits on.

So I worry, about who will write the history of the Duterte years. Social media posts are essentially an ephemeral art. Most of what we write will disappear into inaccessible archives after five or ten years. Mainstream media, many of whose writers cannot articulate, nor often understand, why this President has such a hold on the people, are the traditional sources of historical research. Yet this would leave out the voices of those who get it. The majority who cheer this president, who see the perspective in which he works. These voices could be lost. And the nearly singular perspective by which we had viewed Philippine contemporary history can be reinstated.

Imagine again, that that imbalanced view of Good versus Evil that has been fed to us for nigh thirty years returns as the story of the Filipino people in the time of Duterte, validating only the view of the select few thrown out of power.

No, Mr. President. We will not let you be forgotten. Nor will we stop being the voice of the once unheard. Not now, and not when we start writing the history of this era.

Atty Trixie Cruz-Angeles has her own blog site, Luciferous. Click on above image to link to it.