Caught Off-Guard

I just had to post this.

"And with that all-too-brief SONA, it became clear that GMA's agenda for the coming year is simple: divert people's attention from the real issue, and have them focus instead on charter change. And the congressmen and congresswomen lapped it up! I left the session hall feeling horrified at the immensity of the evil that we face: the evil of an administration that will bury the truth to cling to power at all cost; the evil of a political elite that will only perpetuate itself further in power; the evil of a possible class (or even civil) war between the have's and the have-nots.

So I've been generally at a loss as to what to do. We certainly have our work cut out for us. But the question is: what IS the work that needs to be done?

At this point, I would say that what we should do is re-focus the public's attention on the real issue at hand, which is GMA's accountability; not charter change, which is just a smokescreen. We should insist that any discussions on charter change should only take place after the impeachment process is finished, or after GMA is removed from office."

This quote was issued in reaction to the events unfolding from last July, when President Arroyo dodged a bullet after the legitimacy of her Presidency was (rightly) challenged. I'm not sure about the veracity of the quote, since I copied it from another blog (akosipaeng.blogspot.com), but it does bring to my mind the identity of the quotee: Atty. Tanya Lat.

Now, this is more of a name than an identity to me, since I haven't seen Tanya in about fifteen years, maybe more, and my memory of my being acquainted with her has been blurred by time and so many other newer memories.

I just remember my feeling bad for her because of this singular event during Discovery 49 (that was waaaay back in September 1989). I was placed in charge of soliciting retreat letters (palanca) from the retreatants' parents and I wasn't able to call back her folks as I had promised (they weren't there when I first called, and I got to speak to her, too). Which left me with the pressure of writing a palanca for her during the all-too important Parent Talk sequence.

Even then, some forms of incompetence can nourish thoughts of betrayal. I wonder what she felt during those times. In all likelihood, she would have forgotten by now, though I'm pretty certain I must have ruined part of the perfection that experience could have made possible for her.

Now, as to how her name came up, we are just completing our performance review and salary increase recommendations. and one of the Filipinos in one of the departments shared her surname. Remarkable, isn't it?

Tanya must be riding high by now . . . besides being counsel for the Akbayan party, apparently she lectures and writes as well. Impressive. And our only connection was that slight thread, even though we went to the same university.

Sigh... the connections we make, the lives we touch. Each moment has its own meaning, and it may catch us off-guard when our lives are literally napping. This is just a minor moment, but on the other hand, in certain cases, isn't it hurtful when something you've struggled to forget resurfaces at the most unlikely moment?