The letter writer of the Dear Tita Cory letter is Bong Austero. He has a blog where he is now busy addressing the tidal wave that his open letter has generated.

He says he won’t nitpick (like those who disagreed with him have), yet he has dedicated posts to defending his stand on the issue and pointing out the weaknesses in the arguments of those who are against it.

He says he wrote it in an hour’s time, hence the quality of the said product, saying that he would have given it more thought if he thought that it would be forwarded. Do I have to point out that this is a very lame excuse? Dude, you posted it on your blog. When you post something on your blog, you know that someone will be reading what you wrote. You have to be prepared to stand by what you said. Besides, the point of contention is not writing style nor clarity (wanting, wanting), it is the reasoning behind what was written.

He said he has not asked anyone to shut up. Well, not outright, but wasn’t it one of your major points? That you were sick and tired of hearing Cory et al speak on your behalf so they better…?

He said that he was once an activist during the Marcos years when he was in college, getting picked up at rallies, etc., etc. I want to know what happened. How come you became part of the silent majority that you chose to represent in your open letter?

The one point that was the icing of the cake for me was when he wrote:

ONE MORE TIME: I never claimed to be legally correct in that letter. I never claimed to be intellectually, morally, ideologically right. I claimed to be angry, sick and tired. I said I want to move on. You can out-argue me, out-debate me, out-fact me, bombard me with propaganda materials and slogans. I will stand by my letter. *Of course, it is possible that I am wrong and I am willing to consider that possibility.* I wish that others are also open to that same possibility, but no, they are so convinced of their righteousness I am beginning to think at one point in the last week, God came down to earth and given them a particular license to judge.

Emphasis mine on the asterisked sentence. The people who you represent are counting on you. Continue to stand up for them. Don’t be fazed by all of the attention. If you still stand by your letter and have no regrets, by all means, move forward and defend it. That’s the least that you can do. You are eliciting lively debate, thanks to the democracy that the people you criticized in your letter have continued to fight for. If not for them, you wouldn’t be able to write your open letter and express your disgust and anger in the first place. So stand up for it because you opened the floodgates for the attacks that you have been getting. Take the good with the bad.