I am of the opinion that Gordon’s proposal had some merit and that it should have been given more time to be explored. Malacanang shouldn’t have dismissed it just like that.

As I said in my comment to Pinoy Buzz’s post, the Abu Sayyaf problem has clearly become a political problem as well. The idea of giving amnesty to a group that has gained notoriety for atoricities such as kidnappings and beheadings is not as palatable as, let’s say, granting pardon to a former president convicted of plunder. Joseph Estrada had and still has a strong following. The Abu Sayyaf is largely despised. This could be the reason why Malacanang took the safer route and just rejected the proposal. Perhaps it did so just to avoid the hail of criticisms detractors of the Arroyo administration are all too willing to dish out at the first sign of opportunity.

I just hope this little setback won’t stop Senator Gordon from coming up with radical, out-of-the-box ideas to address this country’s most pressing problems.

I really think Gordon’s proposal should have been explored more. In my understanding, the senator merely presented an alternative to the present course of action, which as recent history will show us hasn’t been effective at all in stopping the Abu Sayyaf. If it wasn’t unceremoniously shot down maybe some adjustments to the original idea could have been made.

Just to be clear, I am not for the granting of amnesty to all the members of the Abu Sayyaf. In my opinion only the least guilty among the bandit group’s members should qualify for amnesty. I am, however, for the option of eradicating the Abu Sayyaf menace through peaceful means. If only the government didn’t get too fixated with the word ‘amnesty’ and just used Gordon’s proposal as a springboard for more brainstorming on this issue.

I guess it would just be a waste of time to dwell on this after all the government has already decided to stick to a military solution. Quite interestingly though, this government is not even sure what to call its military solution. All-out war? No, that conjures images of ultra-violence. All-out  law enforcement? That’s more like it.

Same banana different name. Just don’t say amnesty.

But, pardon me for being a little too suspicious of the timing. The senator is, after all, a politician who has already made it clear that he will be gunning for the presidency. As most of us already know, presidential aspirations can make a person do crazy things.

So, is the senator courting controversy? It’s possible. He is, after all, proposing to give our Muslim ancestors recognition by way of a modification to the Philippine flag. Gordon’s proposal is to have a ninth ray added to the sun in the Philippine flag. This, he says, would symbolize the Muslims who fought against foreign invasion of the Philippines.

In fairness to Mr. Gordon, the idea of getting Muslims who fought off foreign invaders honored is commendable. But, with just months away from the elections, Mr. Gordon’s proposal may just make him look like he is trying to attract attention. If there’s any lesson that can be learned from Martin Nievera and all the other singers who made the Philippine National Anthem their own it is that any and all attempts to tinker with this country’s national symbols is a sure-fire way of eliciting indignation from just about anyone who claims to be the protector of this country’s cultural heritage. And, where there’s indignation there is noise.

But, then again, if getting talked about is indeed the objective, Mr. Gordon couldn’t have picked a worse time to stir controversy. Doesn’t he know his proposal may just go unnoticed since everybody and his uncle is still very much entranced by the scandal (which I am trying hard not to talk about)?

Perhaps, I’m just reading too much into the senator’s move. For all I know, he came out with this proposal with the sincerest of motives. But, then again, Mr. Gordon is a politician and, as with all politicians, his actions are all open to malicious interpretations.

In any case, I would prefer that Mr. Gordon get himself noticed through his handling of senate committee hearings, which is way better than how one of his colleagues is heading the senate probe on the scandal.