Never have we Filipinos been so united in our singular viewpoint on that one event - the Trillanes caper. It has been variously described as a farce, a comedy, a stunt, an adventure or a misadventure, a crime and a rebellion and some other more unsavory words condemning his takeover of Manila Pen after walking out of a courtroom hearing under pain of contempt and utterly contemptuous of the judge and the judiciary. Why did he do it?

For one, he won 11 million votes in the last elections that earned him the title “Honorable.” He figured that if only 10% of that came to enjoy the halo-halo at the lobby, it was enough to reach EDSA Dos numbers which peaked at a million strong at the beloved shrine. It was not to be. Previously during the campaign, he was touted as the young blood in a bureaucratic army, a fresh face among the trapos, and the idealistic soldier venting the frustration of the common tao. His run for the Senate was a fairytale unmatched in our Republic’s colorful history. People from all walks contributed believing in his sincerity despite of, and because of, Oakwood.

Not anymore, to a man, even in the “thinking class,” all those who voted for him regret writing his name in the ballot. We warned about him and his mental frame of the “end justifying the means.” Remember the quote on Danny Lim, “once a rebel always a rebel” – with or without a cause. The moral lesson is to never vote as a sign of protest; always vote for the candidate with his heart in the right place.

After his electoral victory, Trillanes started to implode. His voice was now shrill bordering on the unreasonable - calling for investigations left and right and foisting childlike demands on everyone. The media who had him for a darling, stopped hovering about him and visiting him in jail. To a person who has tasted his more than two minutes’ of fame, it was depressing and frustrating to no longer be in the limelight and not be on the national dailies. It was time to hit the front pages again and this was the only way he knew how. At least on this point, he succeeded.

Setting aside the question of law, it is about ego and the warped perceptions that envelop it oblivious to general welfare and compromising the public good. Recall his claims that he was being abused even with his 11 million mandate. It is simply non sequitur - he has to first face and resolve the cases against him. This was clearly lost on him as his latest siege added another layer of case against him and his cohorts. From a criminal law standpoint, it didn’t matter anymore for him whether he had one or multiple rebellion cases. The arduous process and the heavy penalty are to him the same. The shortcut was the one best way.

The EDSA formula we wrote about previously (EDSA shrine, no rains in cool February weather, dramatic turn of events, military support, etc.) must be followed. Any people power based in a hotel does not have the national symbolism of the mother and child in open air; any attempt to hold hostage persons or places does not resonate with us.

Shall we see no end coups, mutinies and rebellions? Are we suffering from the omissions of the past when plotters were given push-ups, forgiven, promoted or voted into office? I think we have seen the last of it. Filipinos cannot take failure more so dismal as the Manila Pen incident. It’s like a slap in the face; a shot blocked in a basketball game. After the forceful action from the State, we may have finally put a stop to conspirators invoking the Republic’s name for personal interests. As my good friend Ken said, “I lost all respect for Trillanes whom I voted for. He is a coward. He would have done our country good and our countrymen proud if he chose to die for his cause, our cause that is for country”.

For Trillanes, maybe martyrdom was the one shortcut that could have really mattered.