Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro and Associate Justices Francisco Villaruz Jr. and Diosdado Peralta should be applauded not for upholding the rule of law – for it is their task as justices to do so – but for setting a momentous historical precedent. Sadly, the historical significance of all these are lost when taken within the context of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
BY BENJIE OLIVEROS
Analysis
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 32, September 16-22, 2007
The Sandiganbayan decision finding former president Joseph Estrada guilty of plunder is not merely about the triumph of the rule of law. For in the first place, if the rule of law is to be implemented the priority should be the removal of the usurper of power in Malacanang. Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro and Associate Justices Francisco Villaruz Jr. and Diosdado Peralta should be applauded not for upholding the rule of law – for it is their task as justices to do so – but for setting a momentous historical precedent.
Without dealing with the merits or demerits of the decision, this is the first time in the country’s history that a former president is held accountable for crimes s/he committed while in office. And plunder – defined by the Supreme Court as the use of high office for personal enrichment, committed through a series of acts done not in the public eye but in stealth and secrecy over a period of time, that may involve so many persons, here and abroad, and which touch so many states and territorial units – is a crime committed by most heads of state. Aptly put, the Supreme Court stated, “plunder does not merely involve simple cases of malversation of public funds, bribery, extortion, theft and graft but constitute plunder of an entire nation resulting in material damage to the national economy.” Simple cases of malversation, extortion, theft, or graft are committed by lower level government officials. Presidents, having access to the national coffers and having the authority over contracts involving the national government, would not get caught stealing peanuts. They aim big. Try to think of a former president of the country who has not expanded his or her assets tremendously while in office and you would end up with nobody.
And the penalties imposed are considerable. Life imprisonment – or a minimum of 30 years in prison – practically commits the former president to prison for the rest of his productive years.
The forfeiture of ill-gotten properties is also a first. The following were forfeited in favour of the government:
1. The total amount of Five Hundred Forty-Five Million Two Hundred Ninety-One Thousand Pesos (P545,291,000.00), with interest and income earned, inclusive of the amount of Two Hundred Million Pesos (P200,000,000.00), deposited in the name and account of the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation.
2. The amount of One Hundred Eighty Nine Million Pesos (P189,000,000.00), inclusive of interests and income earned, deposited in the Jose Velarde account.
3. The real property consisting of a house and lot dubbed as the “Boracay Mansion” located at No. 100 11th Street, New Manila, Quezon City.”
If only the plunder law was enacted before and the Marcos family was given the same penalties, it could have saved the government of long, drawn-out sequestration proceedings. More importantly, it could have saved the Filipino people from the antics of Imelda, Imee, and Ferdinand Jr. in claiming GMA 7, PLDT, and just about all big corporations which monopolized different industries during the Martial Law period.
The penalty of civil interdiction would prevent Estrada from disposing any other ill-gotten property not covered by the forfeiture. The same penalty could have made Imelda really poor instead of the façade that we are made to bear.
And the penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification from public office could have saved the Filipino people of the shame of having corrupt, criminally-liable, and unrepentant politicians imposing their rehashed selves once more just because they have the money to get elected again. It is perhaps only in the Philippines where family members of a former dictator who was booted out of office are once again elected. That fact does not exemplify national reconciliation, it constitutes a national embarrassment.
Lost moment
But the historical significance of all these are lost when taken within the context of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
The credibility of the Sandiganbayan decision is tainted by the fact that it was made under the watch of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. For the Arroyo government is not known for the swift and impartial administration of justice; it is known for bending the administration of justice to serve its political ends. With Exec. Sec. Eduardo Ermita and National Security adviser Norberto Gonzales lording it over the most powerful Cabinet committee, that of national security, there is no impartial dispensation of justice, there are only unarmed, civilian political activists who are dispensed with. Under Justice Sec. Raul Gonzalez, evidences and statements of witnesses are not verified and examined, these are manufactured. The Supreme Court is perhaps the only credible institution under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration; it has gained the respect of the Filipino people for going against the wishes of the Arroyo government, declaring as unconstitutional its repressive policies and acts.
Thus, it is not surprising that people believe that the Sandiganbayan decision is politically-tainted. For one, it is in the interest of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to have Estrada convicted. It hopes that through Estrada’s conviction, its assumption to power in 2001 is legitimized. (Although it misses the point that its crisis of legitimacy stems from the massive cheating it committed during the 2004 presidential elections, Hello! Garci.) This puts into context the statement of the Arroyo government that the conviction of Estrada would put an end to destabilization efforts.
Its acts and statements prior to the promulgation of the decision also cast doubt on the impartiality of the Sandiganbayan decision. The Arroyo government has been dangling the possibility of pardoning Estrada or granting him amnesty weeks before the decision was promulgated. It’s as if it knows the decision beforehand and it is trying to soften the impact of a guilty verdict.
The Arroyo government calls this national reconciliation. It also dangled the granting of amnesty not only to communists and New People’s Army guerrillas but even to representatives of progressive party-list groups who it charged on the basis of manufactured witnesses and evidences. These overtures were rightfully rejected by Bayan Muna (People First) Rep. Satur Ocampo and the rest of Batasan 6; because to accept is to admit to a crime they never committed. If there is anybody who needs to admit her guilt and ask for pardon it is Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In her infamous, “I am sorry” statement she did not even admit she cheated during the 2004 elections, and now her loyal minions at the Senate keep on blocking investigations on the Hello Garci tapes.
It is a pity that the Filipino people are deprived of a glorious moment, a precedent-setting historically significant decision because of the doings of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. (Well, this is not the only thing that was stolen from us by the Arroyo government: it has stolen the vote in 2004 and again in 2007; it has snuffed out the lives of patriotic activists and deprived the relatives of victims of enforced disappearances of the company of their loved ones; it continuously threatens to deprive us of our rights, especially with the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Law; and it has stolen billions in corruption scandals, the latest of which is the dubious NBN deal.)
But all is not lost. The significance of the decision will ring out loud with all its glory if and when it is Jose Pidal’s turn to be held accountable for his (or is it hers or both?) crimes against the Filipino people. And it will not only be the charge of plunder that she will have to face, it would include gross violations of human rights and massive fraud.(Bulatlat.com)
