QUESTIONS, NOT PREJUDICE

The Black & White Movement reiterates our support for the Citizen’s Congress for Truth and Accountability, which had its opening session yesterday. By now, it should be evident to all that the Palace’s stubborn refusal to participate in the Congress’s sessions cannot thwart efforts to seek the truth. Despite efforts to disrupt the proceedings on the part of entities supportive of the administration, the Congress and its organizers reacted with greater tolerance, humility, and swift accountability than the Palace has thus far accorded the public.

We laud, in particular, the efforts of the Congress to hold accountable those who, in the tension-filled moments when pro-Arroyo protesters tried to disrupt the proceedings, reacted harshly. These are times that call for all of us to practice tolerance and civility, in contrast to the intolerant and uncivil treatment the administration has inflicted on a citizenry seeking accountability from its officials.

The following days will be an unprecedented exercise in citizenship. It can only succeed in further demonstrating just how far the administration has strayed from what is expected of a democratic government. Different organizations with different views and opinions have come together, and have set aside their differences in pursuit of a laudable endeavor. We congratulate the organizers and participants in the Citizen’s Congress. And we urge our fellow citizens to follow, to the best of their ability, the proceedings of that Congress.