Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Why the DRUG AGENT reacted that way....




The question is why?

In journalism lingo and understood by ordinary laymen nowadays, what happened was indeed a "kuryente" story. But a "kuryente" only in a sense that the source of the news interpreted an incident or reacted to an incident in a way that sent shock waves---or let's say more like electric waves to those who learned of the incident.

The newspaper who reported it was not charged with high voltage---in the way we understand "kuryente"---for the story was written based on an official source, recorded---just so we are clear in putting context to what happened to the story.

Yes---this piece is about the story that shocked us all---including Malacanang---but turned out to be something else, different, devastating still, but of a different kind.

But before rushing to condemn the agent in the center of the controversy here...let me offer some insights about the present situation in life of this agent. It's easy to simply conclude that he should at least be reprimanded for coming up with a scenario that jolted every senses of even the most insensitive person there is.

He will not speak this time---not yet. And with all good intent, I am hoping he would not rush to talking before the media to defend himself or what he did or why he concluded the way he did.

Yes, I know him. The truth is, he's a good friend of mine. Our friendship dates back from the time I was in the thick of coverage of kidnapping and military operation in Muslim Mindanao.

Let me make it clear that this piece does not seek to defend him. I will simply try to put context to what happened and why---taking off from the point of view of a father.

I was not the one who wrote the story for the Inquirer. It was a colleague who based the report on an on-record interview with an official source, in this case, the head of the agency which the agent is attached to, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency or PDEA. But I did a follow-up, based on an interview with Representative Roquito Ablan Jr. who heads the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs and who also knows the agent personally and also because, Ablan was among those contacted by the agent in the hours of confusion and uncertainty last Saturday when his only daughter went missing...or the be exact, failed to come home on schedule or at the expected time.

That Saturday night---I was not among those whom he called. I cannot say I am relieved that he chose not to contact me that night for I may end up writing the story myself. In retrospect, I thought, he should have called me so that I could offer him some advise. I could perhaps told him to halt, don't panic and to evaluate the situation first before making calls---that eventually led to the attention of the president of the Republic. But of course---that's easier said than done.

Any parent would panic. Any mother. Any father. And certainly, I am not the authority to advise him at that time not to panic had he called me that Saturday night, knowing fully well how I react when it comes to the safety of my kids.

That night, my friend contacted other reporters, some of whom, also covered him in Mindanao some years back. All his text messages were saved and recorded, providing the basis that the flow of information came from him directly, raising the alarm, suspecting that something bad may have happen to his kid, and then later when his kid finally showed up at the main gate of the compound where their house is located, the physical state they found her bolstered their fears, he and his wife, that something bad happened to his daughter.

He told me that one TV reporter whom he contacted apologized to him for using the text messages he sent him in his broadcast report. It was private communication to a friend who just happened to be a reporter he told me, but I tried to defend that reporter, colleague of a TV network, saying that he was not identified and that the reporter was left with no choice but to put into context and lay the basis of the earlier report he aired especially so that the information made it as a banner headline in the Inquirer last Monday.

The agent's fear about the safety of his daughter was without basis. It was not just a product of a wild imagination. In the past, he too reported to his superiors that some group tried to abduct his kid, the same 13-year old daughter, in the center of this story--or as others have referred to it---a "non-story".

But come to think of it. Is it really a non-story minus the sensational angle of a drug syndicate kidnapping the daughter of an anti-narcotics agent, drugged her, raped her and then dumped her to send the strongest message to the agent to "BACK OFF!"?

In the landscape of human relationship, parent to kids, kids to parents, mother to daughter, daughter to mother, father to daughter, daughter to father---considering that we all see the signs of a decaying moral foundation in our own society that is supposed to be founded and grounded on the strength of the family as a basic unit of society, this to my mind is still a big story---a real big story that speaks volumes about the truth that reflects what exists in our society right now.

I had a very long conversation with him yesterday on the phone and just like the common friend who passed the cellular phone to me, one of the advises I gave him was to take a breather with his family, relax for a while and reconnect with his loved ones---his children in particular and his only 13-year old daughter most especially.

"Talk to her, hug her, tell her you love her and that she's very important to you," these words I told him, hoping that somehow this will allow him to open up more, break-away from his defenses as a man in uniform and be just one person -- a father this time, present and willing to listen to whatever his daughter wanted to say.

On the phone, his voice sounded low, sad and confused. The truth is---he has yet to have a heart to heart talk with his daughter whom he said, is still in the state of shock, crying most of the time.

He told me he believes something bad really happened to his daughter even if the PNP Cordillera already released the medical findings on his daughter, declaring no sexual abuse took place, in line with the official statement that no abduction and no drug syndicate involved in this case, stressing that what happened was the agent's kid was with some friends, on a drinking spree of GSM-blue.

On the phone he told me, "May mga kaibigan akong nakita siya nang ipa-check-up namin sa ospital, at nakita nila na hindi lasing ang bata, at nakita nila ang shock sa kanya, kaya hindi nila matanggap ang sinabi ng PNP-Cordillera na sa inuman galing ang bata...si (name of his daughter)."

He wanted to prove his suspicion. He wanted to investigate further. He wanted to raise a point.

I listened to every word he said, allowing him to expand his thoughts, his fears and his leads ---sensing that at the back of his mind, he is worried on how this incident will impact on his professional career. Without telling him, I was crying on the other end of the line. I feel the unspoken and the real fear that he continue to conceal and shield up to this time.

For how can any person accept that in his dedication and passion to serve his country and people, flag and nation, he neglected his family? Not seeing them for 2, 3, sometimes even 6 months because he was so engaged and so focused on the mission assigned to him as a man in uniform?

How can a father easily accept that perhaps what the incident really means is that his own daughter is crying for help, attention and fatherly love?

As I write these last few paragraphs, I am reminded about the speech that Michael Jackson delivered at Oxford University in 2001, the one posted by colleague and fellow journalist-blogger Ding Gagelonia, wherein in he said, that in the world today, there exists a crisis, the missing link and the long forgotten relationship between parent and child.

In essence what MJ said was---"it's time to reinforce that bond. It's time to go back to basics and the basics dictate that parents nurture and love their kids with the highest priority and to allow them to be kids, to be loved without any condition, so that when their time comes as parents, they too would continue the cycle of parent and kid bond, so that finally, finally, the world will heal."

A non-story?

Yes when taken into consideration the parameters by which headlines are weighed and evaluated in every newsroom or editorial room.

But in the confines of human relations, in the seclusion and in the privacy of ones home---this is the biggest story we could all learn from.

To my friend and his family, I repeat my advise, uncalled for and unsolicited--"take time out to be with each other. Hold each other. Feel each other. Listen and speak your heart out. Let go of the shields and free yourself, say the words---I LOVE YOU MY CHILD." (end)

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