That woman in uniform

The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) issued a statement condemning the appointment of one Lina Sarmiento as head of the martial law claims board. According to the statement forwarded by former Congressman Teddy Casiño via Tweeter.com, the NUPL asks, ‘But does she “have a deep and thorough understanding and knowledge of human rights and involvement in efforts against human rights violations” committed during the Marcos regime as mandated by the law? No such evidence on record.’ Casiño‘s post on Tweeter read: “PNoy appointment of 2-star general to Human Rights Claims Board is a mockery and a bad prank.”

The statement also asked, “Why put a woman in uniform who represents an institution that has historically played its indispensable role in violating human rights at the helm of a body on human rights? What sort of macabre message is this?”

The former congressman wouldn’t want the public to judge him today based on his being a congressman in the past, would he? Should we also ask, what right does Casiño have to question Sarmiento’s appointment when he was once a member of that institution known for rampant graft and corruption, infamous pork-barrel abuses, and had child-rapists, convicted druggies, murderers as members?

I had no idea who Lina Sarmiento was, so I looked her up. She’s a chemistry degree holder who joined the police force as a forensic chemist for the Philippine National Police crime laboratory. From there, through the years, she has held various positions in the Directorate for Operations, the Police Regional Office and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. She later earned her degree in law, her Masters degree in management and became the Director of the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office.

I don’t know how Sarmiento would perform as a member of the Human Rights Claims Board, I wish her well, that’s for sure, and I hope that the nation would finally close that chapter of our history, learn from it, punish all perpetrators of injustices and compensate legitimate victims. The NUPL finds her appointment some “sort of a macabre message” from this administration. But from where I’m standing, the message I see is the recognition of a woman’s unprecedented achievements in a male-dominated institution.

The NUPL, through Atty. Edre Olalia, accused her of playing “into the part of the apologist mechanism during the GMA administration killing spree and nightmare of disappearances of scores of civilians,” but the statement offered no further detail as to her actual alleged participation other than the generalized accusation.

I reacted to Casiño’s tweet: “I'm sorry, but I fail to see why a woman who headed the Human Rights Affairs Office, with a law degree and an untarnished record is unqualified.” To which he replied, “not saying she’s unqualified. Only that she’s a very, very bad choice. Read the statement.” You’re right there, former Congressman, you can’t really say she’s unqualified, in fact, she seems to be highly qualified for the job.

And I did read the statement, former Cong. Casiño, and while you see a police personnel who can never do anything right, I prefer to see a woman who, based on her professional experience, is qualified for the position and whom I would not only give the benefit of the doubt, but also the benefit of trust and support and hope that she will continue to prove naysayers wrong as she has done throughout her career and be able to help finally correct the injustices done during martial law.