Not Me

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

My mood shifted from being happy. For our history class, our professor made us watch a video with Martial Law victims on it.

"Propaganda lang 'yan." Bulong ni Val sa akin. Sa title pa lang, alam na namin gaano kasama na naman ang sasabihin nito tungkol sa pamilya ko kaya't inunahan niya na.

Growing up, I was exposed to dirty politics - both local and national. Sabi nila, I should be used to it because that's how politics works. Fake news here and there until the world is convinced that you are the villain when in reality, ikaw naman pala ang biktima.

And that's what happened to my family. We were antagonized to a point that hearing our surname will trigger anyone affected kahit na hindi naman kasalanan ng pamilya ko talaga.

What makes things worse is hearing my blockmates' answers to our professor's question, "anong natutunan natin sa video?"

"History should never be forgotten nor revised nor manipulated. Sa akin po, acceptance of the past can only be achieved once sins are acknowledged. But then again, it should never be forgotten because it teaches us lessons that only experience can teach." Symon answered. Hindi ako makalingon sa kanya kasi alam kong ako ang pinaparinggan niya doon and I easily understood his reference.

It was my father's interview where he said he cannot do anything dahil wala naman kaming kasalanan. He keeps on insisting that but people like Symon won't just stop accusing because their beliefs are so strong.

"Accountability, above everything else po. The Garcia's keep on denying our painful past kahit na maraming testimonies na ang nagsasabi how cruel our former president was. The least thing that they could do now is to apologize for everything." Ryan uttered. In my mind, I'm rebutting every argument that they're throwing. Wala naman kasi kaming aaminin.

"Elijah, what about you?" Our professor called me.

Val looked at me worried about how I would answer. Kahit ako, kinabahan din dahil hindi ko inaasahang matatawag ako.

"I agree - especially with what Ryan said. Accountability, above everything else. The videos presented showed how horrifying Garcia's term was. Testimonies of torture, of extrajudicial killings, of injustices - and I feel bad for them that they have to go through those experiences. I also agree with Symon that acceptance of the past can only be achieved once sins are acknowledged. But in contrast to their point that Garcia is to be blamed for all that happened, I think we should put the accountability to where it is due. Hindi naman po si Garcia ang pumatay sa kanila. Soldiers involved abused the power given by Garcia. I think that's where we should look at and not call foul to someone who did not do anything." I answered. Everyone became quiet. Ngayon lang siguro sila nakarinig nang may nagtanggol sa apelyido namin. Usually, our supporters are just quiet regarding this topic kaya hindi sila sanay makarinig ng ganoon.

"I think that answer might be biased since you are a Garcia." Our professor joked. "Just kidding. But it's nice to hear that kind of rebuttal every once in a while, 'no?"