Enamored

One of the most amusing remarks made of me recently, so amusing that it hasn't left me, is that made by a friend, that I was "enamored" of Trillanes.  Senator Trillanes, who has been in the news recently--was he ever out of it, actually?--has earned the ire of pro-administration people for being the only Senator standing up to Paolo Duterte, Manases Carpio in the matter of the 6.4B shabu that slipped through the Bureau of Customs.  (Nothing new, except that the sheer volume and cost of the said shipment was too mind-boggling to ignore.  Also, it was Chinese authorities themselves who alerted the Bureau of Customs as to this shipment.  Quite likely, without this alert, everything would have been Business As Usual, and some people would now be enjoying the ill-gotten fruits of their labor in peace and quiet.)

Naturally, the Senator has earned the admiration of right-thinking people, of which, I'd like to believe that I'm one.  I've shared posts with glowing remembrance of Sen. Trillanes' exploits since way back when, starting with his occupation of the Manila Peninsula to the present.  Some have even gone farther back.  And with good pictures of him to boot. 

So...I might appear to be "enamored".  Enamoured, Innamorata. 

I do confess to a weakness for heroes and the heroic.  Not recently, but memorably so, I watched "Les Miserables" the movie 13 times in the cinema, often back-to-back, just to see that portion with Enjolras, who was masterfully played by Aaron Tveit.  I gushed over him with a female friend, who also liked it, and that became the topic of our FB messages and phone calls.  I searched the internet for articles on Aaron Tveit/Enjolras and even shared articles from a female fanpage.  I never thought that I would eventually get over that phase.  But I did. 

Back to the present.  Sen. Trillanes is a David battling the mighty Goliath, Duterte and his son, as well as his son-in-law.  The fight isn't over yet.  Recently, Duterte's trolls and minions have published purported copies of the Senator's bank accounts, and Sen. Trillanes has countered that he's willing to sign several waivers, will accompany the Ombudsman to these banks personally, and, having proven that he has no ill-gotten wealth, will slap Duterte in the face with these waivers.  Could anything be more thrilling?  More heroic?  And more scary, for his "enamoured" fans?  The appearance and testimony of Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascanas, complete with gruesome details, have proven the existence of the Davao Death Squads.  Recently, even minors have not been spared from EJKs by the police, of all people, whose duties are to protect them and the people of this Republic.  So the Davao Death Squad is no longer confined to Davao but has spread to Metro Manila.  The bloodlust is infectious, it seems, no different from those zombie movies like "Train to Busan", that Brad Pitt movie whose title I forget, and so many others of that genre. 

Point is, Sen. Trillanes is laying his life on the line, waging a lonely battle in the face of masked and sometimes outright hostility from fellow Senators Gordon, Sotto, Pacquiao.  We can only admire his chutzpah, his courage, and we can only wish for his safety in the face of all these. 

Enamoured?  Yes, perhaps, but in the sense of the Greek agape. 

Copyright Ethel P David 2017