MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 05 May) – I haven’t heard anybody say Wanna Ver dishonored the memory of her father, General Fabian Ver, by writing about his role in the crimes committed by the Marcos dictatorship.
In contrast, Lorenzo Legarda Leviste, one of the two sons of senatorial candidate Loren Legarda, drew flak for severing ties with his mother over her decision to run under the ticket of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. For the son, siding with the criminals is as good as becoming their accomplice. “Their crimes are her crimes now. Make her defend them,” to borrow his own words.
Methinks Lorenzo talked in the same vein as Ver’s daughter, did he not? Dishonoring his mother, I believe, wasn’t the motivation; it’s the desire to help expose the revisionist narratives being peddled about the brutal martial law regime.
Or, did others think he crossed a line considered too sacred in as far as the prevalent culture is concerned? As one of my childhood neighbors told me, “You may disrespect a priest but never your own mother.”
Whatever the reason is for Lorenzo’s outburst, most responses to it glossed over the crux of his message, and focused instead on generating sympathy for Loren, who must be feeling both angry and frustrated with her son. Detractors are measuring him according to society’s rigid expectations of a son while his political butterfly of a mother goes past their eye without scrutiny – or a swat.
True, the Decalogue tells Christians to honor their fathers and mothers. But it also prohibits murder and theft, crimes committed by the dictatorship which Lorenzo thought his mother has helped sanitize by siding with the descendants of the late strongman.
Marcos supporters readily lambasted the Robredo camp for supposedly capitalizing on the incident. Well, these are the same people who cheered when this administration jailed Senator Leila de Lima on trumped-up drug charges, a clear case of bearing false witness, also a prohibition under the Mosaic law.
Family is all, so they said, adding Lorenzo can expect karma later. Centuries ago he would have been burned at the stake.
No problem with staying loyal to family. Yet, that may not be a cardinal rule if we realize that it’s precisely what the Marcoses are doing, and more, if only to keep their loot intact.
But perhaps for Lorenzo, country comes first. It must be a difficult, agonizing choice for him. Maybe there always comes a time when a person is forced to choose between values imposed by tradition and the imperative to break bonds, kinship included, for what he or she believes to be a nobler goal.
Strange that this happened a few days before Mothers’ Day.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. H. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com.)
