Etta's courage

Memory Served: 14 June 2016, Pasay City

"I was blindfolded, she said, but I will never forget your voice," quoted by Carla Montemayor as part of her narration to describe Etta Rosales' brand of courage; shared by friend Gus Cerdena on Facebook. Worth committing this to memory.

"When Etta Rosales was a new member of Congress, she came face to face with one of her torturers during the Marcos era: Col. Rodolfo Aguinaldo, by then also a member of Congress. She introduced herself and reminded him of the circumstances under which they first "met". 

When I first heard Etta relate this incident, I was stunned. You did what?! Why? And how did he respond? 

He denied having encountered her previously. Of course. That's what cowards do. He could not face the truth of his savagery. But Etta insisted calmly: I was blindfolded, she said, but I will never forget your voice. 

This is the kind of courage that Etta possesses. Here is someone who was brutalised but not broken, who is not vengeful but insists on confronting the past and pursuing justice. That she objects to Ferdinand Marcos's burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is consistent with her experience and her principles. There can be civility, due process -- even forgiveness -- when dealing with our painful past but we must see it as it is, remember and seek justice."

Rosales is one of several Filipino women that I admire the most. A party-list representative and former chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, Rosales was the first to champion a national measure to protect rights of Filipino LGBTs.