WE BID farewell to Sr. Christine Tan, RGS nun, a straightforward,
no-nonsense, and plain-speaking friend of the urban poor and fighter
for social justice and human rights.
Senior Bayan leaders remember Sr. Christine Tan's fearless and unwavering
stance against the Marcos dictatorship especially on the issue of
human rights and the plight of the teeming communities of the urban
poor subjected to arbitrary and inhumane treatment by the then Ministry
of Human Settlements under First Lady Imelda Marcos.
Even after the Marcos dictatorship fell and we had political differences
with many of our allies in the anti-dictatorship struggle, the communication
lines between the national democrats and Sr.Christine remained open.
Several instances we would run to her for help for sudden needs, e.g.
money for a fact-finding mission to investigate peasants massacred
in yet another military operation in some God-forsaken place, or for
an educational campaign to explain the dangers behind pending anti-terror
bills. She would simply ask, “What is it, what do you need?” and then
ask us to send someone to pick up her contribution.
The younger set of leaders, for their part, became acquainted with
Sr. Christine in the Estrada Resign Movement (ERM). I remember distinctly
the first time I spoke before about 30 RGS nuns she had gathered for
a discussion on the national situation under the Estrada regime. When
it came to the part where the question, “What is to be done?” just
begged to be answered, Sr. Christine asked me whether the national
democrats were calling for Erap's impeachment, resignation or ouster.
I explained that even though many of the mass organizations of the
basic sectors were already calling for Erap's ouster, we were trying
to win over broader sections of the people especially among the middle
forces to support “Resign!” She nodded her head in agreement and said
a lot of the people she knew who were fed up with Erap were uneasy,
even afraid, of the militants' “Oust Erap!” call but she was skeptical
about the preferred thrust of the social democrats for the impeachment
route. She felt that was an arena which Estrada could easily manipulate
in his favor while with the “resign” call, all forms of protest could
be undertaken to politically isolate Estrada and literally force him
to step down.
It was not long before Sr. Christine became a convenor and stalwart
of ERM together with Mrs.Zeneida Quezon-Avancena, Fr. Joe Dizon, Maan
Hontiveros, Behn Cervantes, Atty. Josie Lichauco, Dr. Cora Rivera,
the entire array of Bayan mass leaders like myself, Teddy Casino,
Ka Paeng Mariano and many others.
Sr. Christine had powerful friends in high places. This was partly
due to her having come from a privileged socio-economic background
but more likely because of the distinctive role she played in the
anti-dictatorship struggle. She never flaunted these connections but
would matter-of-factly suggest certain names of influential people
who could be approached to help.
Characteristically, she also had her own respectable mobilizing capacity
because countless times she brought scores from the urban poor group
she founded, the Alay Kapwa Christian Community, for the campaign
to have Erap step down and for various other issues, causes and campaigns
before and after that, notably the peace movement against the US bombardment
of Afghanistan and the US war on Iraq.
Sr. Christine had very strong convictions and, as expected, strong
ideological perspectives as well. But she did not let these get in
the way of her forging alliances, even friendships, with those she
suspected or knew were coming from a certain philosophical worldview
or political mindset. To her credit, she respected and showed appreciation
for integrity, honesty, a heart for the poor and oppressed, hard work
and forthrightness -- no matter what place in the ideological spectrum
you happened to occupy.
We will miss Sr. Christine. She was quiet yet feisty, a woman of
few words but steady as a rock in her advocacy of the poor and social
reforms. She goes home to her Maker secure in her legacy -- her praxis
of giving up a life of luxury and ease, living instead with the poor
she loved, sharing in their weal and woe and making a difference in
their ordinary lives and in their extraordinary struggles.
Mabuhay ka, Sr. Christine!
