The truth is not enough

On the sidelines of the Frankfurt book fair, over many breakfasts and cups of coffee with fellow writers, the tangled web of Philippine politics inevitably came up for discussion, particularly at this juncture when it seems imperative to sort out the good from the bad (or, to account for the nuances of the moment, the better from the worse).

- JOSE DALISAY

One interesting idea that came up from a seasoned journalist in the grow was the suggestion to create a Truth Commission to receive the testimonies of tokhang survivors and the families of victims, presumably in support of the case against former president Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court.

The legalities aside - as we don’t know if these statements would even be admissible as evidence — it was argued that what was more important was to compile a dossier of stories, for the people to know now and for the historians and critics to evaluate later. That way, whatever happens in the courts — including the possibility that nothing ever will —a trail of blood and accountability will have been established, an ineradicable record of state-sponsored crime against its own citizens.

Most of us will recall that South Africa set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 1994 — at the end of apartheid and upon the assumption to the presidency of Nelson Mandela — to hear ‘om victims of human rights violations and to dispense justice, following the principle of “forgiveness over prosecution, and reparation over retaliation.” We ourselves briefly had a Philippine Truth Commission in 2010 at the urging of new president Noynoy Aquino, organized to investigate graft and corruption under the previous administration, until it was dedared unconstitutional even before it could do any real work.

Mandela’s government supported the TRC, led by Archbishop (and later Nobel Peace Laureate) Desmond Tutu, keenly aware of the need to heal the deep wounds left by apartheid so South Africans could move forward to the bright new future that beckoned then.