With a tad over a week before Christmas, the President may not be able to make it to his timeline or deadline to throw into the slammer corrupt officials, big fish or not. Some of them—certainly not all of them – must go to jail, as planned, before noche buena begins, as if it’s a political pivot. ,
“ASK NO QUESTION and you’ll be told no lies,”Charles Diclens wrote in the Great Expectation. The time and season for questions and lies were unparallel in a Marcos experience. As the leader of a truth besieged nation, he wants the answer soon not later.
No doubt, he must be doing his best to keep his word. He’s on the right and righteous footing. But there are other factors such as evidence, politics, doubt and fairness. After all , as the highest official of the land, he is deemed to give justice to everyone. Nothing exists in a vacuum.
Then there is reasonable doubt which must be fully satisfied before anyone, big or small, is convicted of a criminal offense. In a judicial system that anchors its fairness on the presumption of innocence as opposed to the presumption of guilt, the burden weighs heavily on the court. As to the low-hanging fruits, it may be a different matter ,but fairness must still be observed.
“Our doubts are our traitors,” Shakespeare wrote,”and lose the good that we might oft win.’” Yeah, were in that dangerous phase.
Since the President blew the whistle of massive corruption in flood infrastructure projects, several probes have been done and pieces of evidence linking people to the unprecedented anomalies have been uncovered. The small fish consists of the ordinary staff in government public works. The big fish are no less than legislators. An independent commission (ICC) created for the purpose has already invited both the small fries and the suspected shark s to give their best possible side. Impression should create perception. But the ICC is mere recommendatory to the Ombudsman. Before the Christmas break, the ICC has closed shop until the new year, which may be a different scenario when it comes back to work.
True to his avowed new zeal as an anti=graft body as opposed to his predecessor which was considered lax or laggard when it came to battling corruption in government, the new Ombudsman has filed cases against erring officials.
So far,so good. The Ombudsman has done his prosecutorial duties, it’s up to the court to determine conviction based on evidence. That’s what’s keeping the President from making his vow on time. Due process takes time. Otherwise, zealotry is tyranny.
Note that the new Ombudsman, when he led the case to probe the 100 missing sabungeros, admitted that what he was up against were the best lawyers that money could buy because big money, not big government, was the issue. To this day, only one person was accused. He is still out of jail. It’s the same thing with flood projects corrupt official who remain free. Cases filed, hohum.
In the meantime, the public is left with jitters hanging on the urgent issue of corruption in public works projects. If the President fails to jail as he promised those corrupt officials this Christmas, he must tell the public what’s in his mind. Confusion can breed intolerance, a fertile ground for destabilization. And the President”s enemies are opportunists at best, which most politicians are, by definition.
It’s a good thing that the former president, which is still the incumbent President’s real political rival is waiting in the Hague for his trial for crime against humanity by the International Criminal Court. The political story and the nation’s narratives would have been altered if he were released.
So far, the former predecessor supporters are virtually paralyzed by his detention is the Netherlands. There is only so much that they can do to mount their hobby horses versus a sitting President. They can march untill their blue, not yellow, in the face but they can run around him to unseat him. Indecisions , however, can be perilous. It’s a Machiavellian fear: to be feared is better than to be loved. How does the public look at a soft-spoken, kind commander in chief?
The Ombudsman currently addressing a United Nations forum in the Middle East about what the Philippines is doing vis-à-vis the corruption scandal ? It’s a public relations job, for whatever it”s worth. It will not move the needle until the corrupt are put in jail.
Perhaps, the Ombudsman can make his friends in the UN facilitate the arrest of former Congressman Zaldy Co and his deportation and the enforcement of a red notice flag on former Secretary Harry Roque. These are not miracles and can be achieved by this administration, now not later.
While at it, the President can also certify as urgent, not as a priority, an honest-to good ness anti- political dynasty. To be sure, the presidential son has a filed similar measure in the House of Representaties. But legislators have found the bill that will only result in making current dynasties permanent. Where’s the beef, Mr President?
The President still has eight days to go before Christmas day. And he has a promise to keep. To parse the American poet Robert Frost, a miles to go before he sleeps. 2028 is still afar off. In politics, that’s still a long time. It can make the President sleepless for eight nights. Or make the compelling case before the courts that putting the corrupt behind bars on Christmas Day is also D-Day for the nation.
Cross your fingers.
