Rule of law

By Alfredo C. Garvida, Jr.

The much anticipated indictment of Senators Enrile, Estrada and Revilla along with pork barrel scam queen, Janet Napoles, has finally come last Friday, June 6, 2014, when the Office of the Ombudsman filed the criminal information of plunder, a non-bailable offense, against these big-time personalities with the Sandiganbayan.

Varied reactions, as expected, surfaced, mostly in support of the indictments reflective of how the citizens of this country feel about corruption. The accused are not guilty—as yet, because this what the law mandates--until the court finds them guilty beyond reasonable doubt. 

The three senators are accused of having perpetrated the crime for a period of 10 years, allegedly robbing the people billions of pesos for ghost or unworthy projects just so they could allegedly earn illicit commissions for their selfish ends. People are awed at the speed of the indictments' formalization, and in silence, revering the measure of political will the administration has in going head to head against popular and powerful politicians in this country. 

The accused cry of political persecution is understandable, as is always the conventional defense of a politician when cornered of wrongdoing, even in flagrante delicto, yet  the rule of law must not be pushed to the back burner no matter who the accused are, no matter what political or social affiliations they belong to, most especially when the public trust is breached by people sworn to uphold the law as Senators Enrile, Estrada and Revilla were when they assumed their lofty offices at the Philippine Senate.

The government did what was right but the public should militate against selective justice too in the face of accusations that some administration boys are involved in the scam as well. President Aquino does not earn respect with his mere absolution rhetoric in his men's behalf. He must conduct an unbiased and beyond-suspicion inquiry into this issue if only to give justice to his men now suffering suspicion before the bar of public opinion and to demonstrate as well his faith to the rule that no man is above the law. 

Last Monday, June 9^th, the government filed additional criminal information of graft against these distinguished senators, which is defining for the public's introspection as it imparts the notion that the offenses imputed on them are grave, multiple and transcendent of political persecution. It is worth noting that Sen. Revilla, in his senate privileged speech on the same day of his graft indictment, has accused the President of failing to address poverty and unemployment in this country, a function Mr. Aquino, in Revilla's mind, was supposed to prioritize over his zeal to jail his ‘oppositors”—or corrupt men in government, whichever way the public may read it. 

Sen. Revilla must have conveniently forgotten that the Philippines is now considered one of the top emerging economies of the world given the global investors' confidence in the present government's social, economic and political policies, topmost of which is the hard drive of the government, of which Senator Revilla is a crucial and essential part of, against corruption. He must have conveniently forgotten as well that the root cause of the nation's poverty and unemployment is corruption in government. He must have conveniently forgotten as well that economic policies of the nation, such as those against poverty and unemployment, are not the sole burden of the President to formulate but that of the Congress, too, of which he is a member.  

In short, as a member of Congress, has he done something to mitigate them? Or, if the accusations against him are true, didn't he make unemployment and poverty worse? 

Some legal and political experts have opined that the cases of plunder and graft against these distinguished senators will not terminate within Mr. Aquino's presidency, which means that there will be a new Philippine President by then. The big question is whether the new president will pick up Mr. Aquino's resolve to fight for the Filipino's right to justice for the plunder on their money as well as for the breach of public trust committed by people they have elected to represent their interest in congress. The burden on this issue is so heavy on one presidential candidate who presently leads the presidential surveys but who is also known by all and sundry to be a political ally of the accused. 

The citizens are too wary of the double standard of justice accorded to inmates. They have seen how Rolito Go and former Batangas Governor Leviste have defied the terms of their incarceration at the National Penitentiary. They have seen how luxurious Mr. Druglord Camata was surviving his jail term, complete with a privilege to entertain women in his private hospital suite. And people have not forgotten too how former President Joseph Estrada was held at an exclusive government compound, eventually pardoned by President Gloria Arroyo, who herself is being held in a government hospital for the crime of plunder too.   

Privileged people are always privileged no matter the circumstance. The Philippine National Police is busy refurbishing the “suites” of the three senators at the PNP Headquarters, where Avelino Razon, the former commanding general of the Philippine National Police is incarcerated too for the crime of—what else—corruption. And people are wondering what separates presidents, senators, millionaires, governors, drug lords and generals from ordinary citizens before the eyes of the law? Where does social bias end that equality before the law may begin? 

Finally, the Constitution reposes solely in the President the absolute power to grant reprieve and pardon to convicted criminals. To make it easier for government officials to think twice before thieving people's money, wasn't it time that this presidential power be qualified to exclude pardon on plunder and public corruption that the bar to the state's chance of alleviating poverty and decreasing unemployment may be lowered? 

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano's fear that a Binay presidency could lead to a whitewash of the cases against the Vice President's political allies may be legitimate, but this fear be better left to the citizens to decide at the right time. For now, let the rule of law prevail for it exists, purportedly, in the name of justice. And justice means due process, equality to all, vindication of rights and having errant people suffer the consequence of their act.