Justice for Trillanes, justice for all

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
10/18/2010


Remember the “Alabang Boys” drug and bribery case involving state prosecutor John Resado? Remember the shit that hit the Department of Justice (DoJ) fan in 2009 when Resado was accused by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) of illegally releasing drug suspects Richard Brodett, Jorge Joseph and Joseph Tecson because of purported “defects” in PDEA’s case?

The DoJ prosecutors at that time rallied around Resado. The two agencies then traded charges. Government was thus compelled to conduct an independent investigation, where it found a suspicious, unsatisfactorily explained P800,000 deposit in Resado’s account on the same day he signed that infamous resolution.

Good thing someone pursued the Alabang Boys and Resado cases. PDEA agent Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino at that time impressed the nation by standing up to the browbeating of then DoJ Chief Raul Gonzalez and other DoJ top brass.

Meantime, let us be reminded too, of the case that hit international news with the headline, “Philippine judge sacked, another suspended over bribery scandal,” involving Justice Vicente Roxas and Associate Justice Jose Sabio, where three other justices were suspended for not taking the appropriate action.

The scandal arose after Sabio revealed a P10-million bribe offer by a lawyer of Meralco but which he didn’t report until months after, whereas Roxas was dismissed for offering fabricated transcripts of deliberations to a review panel investigating that scandal and writing a ruling on the petition without first consulting the Court of Appeals justice involved.

There is a large volume of seamy stories on our justice and judicial system. So when I heard the DoJ’s lawyers quibbling about technicalities in the amnesty for the Magdalos, I thought: “Who are they to talk?”

They of all people should realize that the power to grant amnesties bestowed upon the Office of the President — the office, not the person — is absolute. The progenitors of our Western (or American) constitutional tradition recognized the potential of any system of laws and government to be flawed. Thus they provided the power, under the checks and balance principle, to the highest elected official representing the almighty people to resolve such issues in behalf of the people themselves.

The anomaly though in our current political and cultural set-up is that power is being wrested from the people’s hands by the politicians and bureaucrats, many of whom have been corrupted and controlled by the powerful oligarchs, Gloria Arroyo, and foreign interests. And this is the only reason Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV has not been able to sit in the Senate despite the earnest efforts of his 11 million voters.

For truly, the struggle of Trillanes is the struggle of the people to wrest back the power that is supposedly theirs, peacefully and legally, despite all the obstacles put in place by the bureaucratic and political usurpers of that power.

Take this issue of the Makati trial court’s handling of Trillanes’ case which, despite having taken over seven years of hearings and deliberations, has not been resolved to this day. While most perceive this murderously slow grind as normal for this country’s courts, by international standards, two years is already a denial of the fundamental right of the accused to “a fair and speedy trial,” the rectification of which should be an outright dismissal.

But the tragedy of our society is that the flaws and infirmities of the system have been so accepted because they have plagued us so long. Alas, those who shrug the injustice to Trillanes off are really condemning themselves to suffer that same fate soon.

I heard the DoJ prosecutors complaining about having “labored long and hard these seven years preparing and arguing” the case against Trillanes. But have they actually thought of the hardships the senator, his wife and children, his family, friends and comrades underwent over seven years and seven months of being behind bars, and of being unable to travel the 10-kilometer stretch leading to the halls of the Senate where he was elected by the people to serve?

The parties carping against the amnesty, such as those “unnamed legal experts” quoted by a mainstream pro-Arroyo paper when the Oakwood protest occurred, are undeserving of serious consideration because they have not done their share in standing up to the corruption of the system as the Magdalos and Trillanes have, or risked their whole profession, as what Alan Paguia laid on the line when he criticized the Edsa II transgression of the highest court of the land.

The high prominence being given to criticism of the amnesty from a motley crew of non-entities does not surprise me. I am aware that the party with the most to lose when the amnesty for Trillanes is perfected, i.e. Gloria Arroyo and her cohorts, is moving to fan the criticisms to cover the real issues that led to the Oakwood protest and the astonishing victory of Trillanes over Arroyo’s moneyed candidates in 2007: The unprecedented levels of perfidy, treason and corruption of that regime, which continues today with Arroyo’s reign in Congress and her factotums ensconced in the government bureaucracy.

As for Teddy Te’s comment, I understand his belief in his infallibility, but even he must admit that it is the system that is corrupt through and through — like a Kryptonite that even his super legal brain cannot overcome.

The entire nation, with the 11 million voters of Trillanes, must take action now to shout down the voices of petty tyrants who are attempting to usurp the power and the sense of justice of the people.

Text to radio and TV programs; start hanging posters in your windows and vehicles; start the teach-ins in schools; and declare to the world, “Justice for Trillanes, justice for all!”

(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch “Justice for Trillanes, Justice for All” on Politics Today, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., Tuesday, with Teofisto Guingona, RG Guevarra and co-host Abby Aquino on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http:hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)