an open letter to edu manzano

Dear Sir,

When you declared the possibility that the sales of pirated DVD helps finance Abu Sayyaf, I hope you realize that it is a big statement. The "possibility" part, is a bit appalling because it connotes uncertainty. There’s a hint. Possibly there’s a chismis. But nothing concrete that supports the bigness of your statement.

Ano ba talaga, Kuya?

Show us the paper trail, the cash flow, the facts, the cold, cold facts and nothing but. A statement like this should be really, really certain. It should not be even made public if you just have a probable cause. It must be proven beyond doubt. Because if it’s not, then it has no place in venues like public television. There must be a boardroom meeting on this, a secret probe before its thrown like chicken meat into crocodile-infested media. Do you keep a video or photos replete with faces of culprits delivering the sacks of bills and coins from the nooks of Quiapo or Greenhills to the jungles of Basilan? Where is your proof? And if there is, is that conclusive?

We know exactly that media devours every story that is deemed news-worthy and delivers it as gospel truth. What if the world knows about it? They will look down on your less-than-responsible pronouncements. They will be judging you with your baselessness. And they will collectively call us just as baseless.

I hope that you understand what damage can a statement do to our national pride. It is not just you who will be subject to ridicule, it is us, too-the Filipino race that produced heroes like Rizal, Bonifacio and Aquino. We, who staged EDSA revolutions. We who turn the Senate from a legislative body into a forum so we can loudly denounce corruption and abuse of power.

Isn’t it enshrined in your own guidelines to be careful about statements like this?

We have been bombarded by ads that tell to our face that patronizing piracy is equivalent to theft. And we still maintained our weekend trips to Quiapo undaunted by the imminent fires of hell.

But this one statement linking us in enriching the coffers of terrorists so they can break life and limbs mercilessly is a bit too much of a guilt-tripping. It appeals directly to our conscience.

We say, enough, in bold letters with exclamation points.

Please say there is no truth to it so we can watch the rest of our collection in peace.

Do you not pity us? Isn’t it punishment enough that we are trapped with Jamby Madrigal in the same country?

Yours truly,

Signed by every individual who watched Gossip Girl, Supernatural, et al with bootleg DVD