Once again, hope springs for BAYAN: we are told that Messrs. Jose Diokno and Butz Aquino may rejoin the movement (MALAYA, July 6).

But even if they return, I fear that BAYAN will break up again for the same reason that it fell apart in the past -- the question of who will head the Opposition.

The cause-oriented groups have, over the years, placed their member’s bodies on the line. Their people have suffered great privations; may have been tortured or killed. Understandably, these groups feel that on the basis on what they have given up "for the cause," they should lead the Opposition. They feel superior to the moderates whom they look upon as fair-weather oppositionists at best and one-time Marcos collaborators at worst.

But the moderates, richer and better educated, feel that by reason of social class and education, they should lead. In their view, only they can run the economy and the government. Their brains, they feel, are more important than their bodies the cause-oriented groups have sacrificed.

And the issue of power and leadership is often mixed up with the issue of retribution. To the cause-oriented groups, certain people in the political and economic sectors are no better than common criminals to stand trial when the day of reckoning comes. But most of these criminals are linked to the moderates through blood, business, professional, school, and other ties.

The radicals believe that under a moderate leadership, only a few of these "criminals" will be brought to justice. The ties of blood and friendship will prevail over the blood-soaked claims of the faceless masses. The Harvard- and Berkeley-trained technocrats will still be around ("We need their expertise") and never mind the millions of common people who lost money, time, opportunities, and more, because of these technocrats’ bungling.

Until the Opposition squarely confronts the issues of leadership and retributive justice, any unity in the Opposition will be as fragile as BAYAN was.

QUIRINO TORRES