Dead in the City

No, we are not talking of a horror version of the Razzie awarded "Sex in the City 2". We are talking of the continuing "salvaging" of alleged, and relatively, "petty" criminals like cellphone snatchers, hold-uppers, etc. We say "petty" because the bigger ones like those plundering hundreds of millions of pesos remain outside the prisons and in most cases even protected by government-appointed bodyguards at the expense of the taxpayers' money.

In the past few weeks kasi, halos sunod-sunod ang itinatapon na salvage victims with corresponding messages like "Huwag akong tularan, Holdaper ako", o "Snatcher ako", o "Magnanakaw ako". Pero ano ba talaga ang implications nito?

1. Nagsisimula na namang maghari ang mga vigilante at mga ala-vigilante. Ja-peyks ba para lang makakuha ng atensiyon.
2. Kulang na ang tiwala ng mga tao sa criminal justice system.
3. Puwede ring ang tingin ng ibang tao, wala nang justice system. Puro na lang kriminal.
4. Usad-pagong ang ating mga pulis. Baka wala nang mga gasolina ang mga police cars na inisyu sa kanila.
5. Usad-pagong pa rin ang mga pulis. Baka masyado na silang gutom at di na kaya ang mabilisang pagresponde sa mga krimen.
6. Usad-pagong pa rin ang mga pulis. Kung hindi sila gutom, baka masyado naman silang busog kaya nahihirapang tumakbo. Sa AFP, milyones ang pabaon. Sa PNP kaya?
7. May problema sa conviction rate. Tingin ng iba, makakalaya rin ang mga kriminal lalo pa at maliliit lamang ang krimen na nagawa nila. Yung malalaki nga na milyones ang involved at krimen pa laban sa bayan ang na-commit nakakapaglakwatsa pa at malayang nagmo-malling, di ba? At puwede pang kumandidato.
8. May problema pa rin sa conviction rate. Ilang beses na nga bang na-deny ang efforts para malaman ang katotohanan simula pa nung impeachment processes kay Gloria Arroyo?
9. Marami na talagang isnatser at holdaper kaya kailangang magbawas.
10. Marami na rin ang mga taong walang magawa kaya yung iba, nang-iisnats na lang at yung iba naman nanghoholdap.
11. Lalong marami ang mga taong walang magawa kaya yung iba, pumapatay na lang ng mga kriminal tulad ng isnatser at holdaper.
12. Baka wala nang ibang puwedeng gawin dahil sa kahirapan.
13. May over-production ng masking tape, panaksak, at mga sasakyan kung saan puwedeng ilulan ang mga salvage victims.
14. Masyadong natutuon ang atensiyon natin sa malakihang krimen tulad ng plunder kaya kailangan ng diversionary tactic.
15. Hindi kaya ng mga vigilante ang mga malalaking kriminal kaya doon na lang sila nakatutok sa maliliit.

Pero interesting na i-test statistically ang number of instances na may salvaging simula nang tawaging "pro-GMA" ang Korte Suprema. Interesting din na alamin ang epekto sa crime rate simula nang mapawalang-sala sina Hubert Webb sa Vizconde Massacre. Kaya lang, sino kaya ang maaaring gumawa? Volunteers, anyone?

Merci gets Mercy from SC

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, speedily gave an immediate relief to Ombudsman Merciditas Gutierrez by directing the committee headed by Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. to observe a status quo ante following Gutierrez’s petition for certiorari and prohibition. Gutierrez had been a subject of impeachment cases which she claims as “capricious and whimsical.” (See full report here.)

Sa wakas, bumilis din ang takbo ng Korte Suprema. Pero teka, preno, alto, halt, stop! Bakit sa kaso lang ni Gutierrez? Bakit sa ibang kaso, hindi? Dahil ba sa karamihang Supreme Court Justices ay appointee ni Gloria Arroyo at si Gutierrez ay ganun din? Ibig bang sabihin, ganito rin ang mangyayari sa mga kaso na ilalatag laban kay Arroyo? O revenge ito ng Korte dahil sa budget cuts nito for 2011?

If this is the case, then the high court should not be a hypocrite claiming that it is apolitical. And if this is the case then it should not expect to get the trust of the Filipinos. Pero sana naman hindi. Dangan kasi ay last resort dapat ng mga tao ang korte sa mga wrongs committed against them. Not unless isa itong recreational and leisure resort kung saan libre ang mga mayayamang may koneksiyon lalo na sa mga Arroyo?

Midnight Deals

The midnight deals are one of the reasons why Erap Estrada was ousted. The midnight deals are also one of the reasons why Gloria Arroyo was able to become the Philippine President starting 2001.

It appears, however, that Mrs. Arroyo forgot the reason why she became the sitting-President. She also had her midnight glass ... err, class ..., err, deals this time by appointing officials like Chief Justice Renato Corona near the end of her term.

Understandable naman bakit kailangan ni Mrs. Arroyo na mag-engage sa midnight appointments. May mga nilalang talaga na, sabi nga sa kanta, "don't wanna miss a thing". Kasama na diyan ang mga buwitre na kailangan talagang mag-take advantage ng situation otherwise baka sila magutom. Ganun din ang mga bampira na dahil pahirapan maghanap ng biktima, would not want to miss a droplet of blood from their victims. Malay natin, takot lang talaga si madam na maubusan din ng makakain pag dating ng panahon na sunod-sunod na ang kaso laban sa kanya. O kaya baka rice and noodles na lang ang makuha niya dahil nailit na ang kanilang mga ari-arian.

Buti kung nanalo si Erap. At least puwedeng sabihing reciprocal ang obligations. Binigyan niya si Erap ng pardon kaya ipa-pardon din siya. Sabi nga ni Aling Rosing: Kung ang sabi ni Erap ay weather-weather lang yan, iniisip ni GMA na pardon-pardon lang yan!

Teka, ano ba to, biru-biruan?

Rice shortage or Lies shortage?

Circulating in the SMS-sphere:

The ZTE Scandal has broken the relation between China and the Philippines. To mend this, GMA visited Beijing. The Chinese president was very accommodating and devoid of Orwellian talks typical of GMA, he offered his country's help to solve the Philippines' alleged rice shortage.

Chinese Translator: Oul plesident asks if del is a lice sholtage in the Pilipins. (Our president asks if there is a rice shortage in the Philippines.)
GMA (mimicking the way the translator speaks para magpa-cute): How thoughtful but please tell youl plesident we have no lies sholtage in the Philippines.

Kung sabagay, wala nga naman talaga tayong pagkukulang sa mga kasinungalingan.

There are even thoughts that there is really no rice shortage. Gimik lang ng Malacanang para matabunan ang isyu ng ZTE, ng Supreme Court Decision at ng mga akusasyon ni Lozada. Whether this is true or not, di natin alam. Ang nakapagtataka lang, bakit ngayong panahon ng anihan lumabas ang issue ng alleged rice shortage?

The effects of Neri vs Senate

The resolution in the Neri vs Senate Committee Case is like seeing "the good, the bad and the ugly"...

• The "good" because finally, everybody can breath upon knowing how powerful the President of the Philippine Republic is. Siyempre next time, alam na kung sino ang puwedeng magsabi ng Noli Me Tang-ina... este Tangere. Siyempre, luminaw na rin ang bolang kristal at alam na kung ano ang mas mahalaga... ang kapakanan NG MGA PILIPINO o ang kapakanan ng ILANG PILIPINO -- that is, the salus populi or the salus presidente.



• The "bad" because the Neri vs Senate Committee show the bias of the Supreme court to the Supreme Law... the law of the salus presidente. Excuse us: wala pa pong personality na involved. We are just talking of the presidential seat here.



• At dahil nakita natin ano na ang hugis ng batas, nakita rin natin ano na ang hugis ng demokrasya sa Pilipinas -- meaning, democracy only caters to a selected few. So if there is a conflict between the salus presidente and the salus populi, the former prevails. Hence, the "ugly".
  
  We have seen also the "ugly" because we have seen that the real democracy ends when secrecy begins. So while we argue that the Executive Privilege is a constitutional fact, we tend to forget that transparency is also a constitutional fact. And when we argue that the Executive Privilege has a constitutional basis, we tend to forget that the ideas of "public office as a public trust" and "accountability" also has a constitutional bases.


The "good, the bad, and the ugly", however, shows how difficult the job of a Justice of Peace and Justice of Court is. It simply means weighing interests against interests, and be conscience-stricken for the outcome. So if Ed Ermita has been doing double-talks, and if there is now a stalemate between the two branches of the government, it now rests with the Justices. And whether or not the Justices can rest in peace with their decisions, kanila na lang yun. But too sad that in the democracy Pinoy style, the fate of a greater number is decided by the lesser few.

Salus presidente est suprema lex.

From declaring herself as "the State" in Presidential Proclamation 1017, here comes Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with a smile that could connect one ear to the other. The Supreme Court, through Neri vs. Senate Committee, ruled on the extent of the Executive Privilege the Philippine President and her cabinet secretaries could invoke. The resolution penned by Justice Teresita De Castro states that:

The context in which executive privilege is being invoked is that the information sought to be disclosed might impair our diplomatic as well as economic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Given the confidential nature in which these information were conveyed to the President, he cannot provide the Committee any further details of these conversations, without disclosing the very thing the privilege is designed to protect.

And what are these questions? These are as follows:

a) Whether the President followed up the (NBN) project?

b) Were you dictated to prioritize the ZTE?

c) Whether the President said to go ahead and approve the project after being told about the alleged bribe?

The Senate, according to the high tribunal, failed to show a compelling need for the answers to said questions. Thus, the court continued, the Senate cannot compel Neri to divulge information which are covered by the executive privilege.

Arroyo's smile further broadened when the Ombudsman also junked the motion to subpoena the president over the scandalous national broadband deal. This means she remains a privileged person far and above the law. This also means that the interests of the people -- their right to information, their right to a transparent, responsive and accountable government, and their right to have their welfare placed above anything else, is set aside.

Kung sabagay, bakit pa kailangang magtaka ang mga Pilipino? It is already made clear by the Freedom House that the Philippines is not a democratic country. Sa isang demokrasyang bansa kasi,the welfare of the people is the supreme law. In the case of the Philippines, it is the welfare of the President -- something similar to case of monarchs who rule under the benefit of the Divine Law, and the dictators.

Otherwise, puwede rin imbestigahan si Gloria Arroyo or i-subpoena tulad ni Bill Clinton when he had a sex scandal at tulad ni Richard Nixon during the Watergate Scandal. O di ba?

Corruption, a matter of executive privilege?

In Tuesday's hearing on the question of law filed by Romulo Neri with regards his attendance to the Senate probe on NBN-ZTE Scandal, an agreement was reached. According to the high tribunal, Neri should attend the hearing but could not answer the following questions:

• Did the President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) ask him to approve the contract despite his report of bribery and kickbacks?
  
• Did the President order him to prioritize the project?
  
• Did the President follow up on the contract?

It is said that those are matters of executive privilege, questions that clearly give the clues as to whether or not Arroyo indeed took a dip in the honey of corruption.

Kung sabagay, the Senate probe is not about whether Arroyo is corrupt or straight but as to whether or not the NBN-ZTE Contract is indeed anomalous. Isa pa, di pa naman nagbibigay ng final na desisyon ang Korte Suprema defining particularly what executive privilege really is and what are its limits and boundaries. But given these developments, and if in the end the Supreme Court will sustain the result of the compromise agreement, magkakaroon na ng precedent ang mga susunod na administrasyon. Una, puwede palang mangurakot ng mangurakot and when probes like the one being done by the Senate is conducted, i-invoke lang ang executive privilege. Ikalawa, magiging "for display purposes" na lang talaga ang Sections 27 and 28 ng Constitution which we quote:

Section 27. The State shall maintain honesty and integrity in the public service and take positive and effective measures against graft and corruption.

Section 28. Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law, the State adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.

Similarly, useless na rin ang mga anti-graft laws natin at laws on the code of conduct of public officials and employees dahil sa pamamagitan lang ng executive privilege, free as a bird na ang mga nasa top positions covered by the executive privilege.

Pero di pa naman tapos ang lahat. We still believe that the Supreme Court is still independent and that it can end the crisis involving executive priveleges in the soonest possible time.

The Silence of the Lamb... err, Gonzales

After the long-delayed and much awaited decision in Chavez vs. Gonzales, the Supreme Court on February 15 finally laid to rest the issue on whether or not to air the "Hello, Garci!" proceedings. The ruling: the tapes can be aired.

Kaya pala tameme si Raul Gonzales the past few days at si Sergio Apostol na lang ang medyo maingay. Kala nga ni Tikboy, nasa hospital na naman ang lolo kasi biglang preno ang machine gun mouth sa panahon ng krisis. Yun pala, nabingi din ang Supreme Court dahil sabi ni Chief Justice Puno: We slide to the issue of whether the mere press statements of the Secretary of Justice and of the NTC in question constitute a form of content-based prior restraint that has transgressed the Constitution. In resolving we hold that it is not decisive that the press statements made by respondents were not reduced in or followed up with formal orders or circulars. It is sufficient that the press statements were made by respondents while in the exercise of their official functions. Undoubtedly, respondent Gonzales made his statements as Secretary of Justice, while the NTC issued its statement as the regulatory body of media.Any act done, such as a speech uttered, for and on behalf of the government in an official capacity is covered by the rule on prior restraint. The concept of an “act” does not limit itself to acts already converted to a formal order or official circular. Otherwise, the non formalization of an act into an official order or circular will result in the easy circumvention of the prohibition on prior restraint. The press statements at bar are acts that should be struck down as they constitute impermissible forms of prior restraints on the right to free speech and press.

There is enough evidence of chilling effect of the complained acts on record.The warnings given to media came from no less the NTC, a regulatory agency that can cancel the Certificate of Authority of the radio and broadcast media. They also came from the Secretary of Justice, the alter ego of the Executive, who wields the awesome power to prosecute those perceived to be violating the laws of the land.

Ang tanong lang, matututo kaya si Gonzales sa nangyari? That we don't know. Pero me kasabihan: You can't teach old dogs with new tricks.

Sabagay, di naman aso si Gonzales. Pero yung kapitbahay ni Tikboy na si Aling Gloria, me aso na ang pangalan Raul. Kumahakol din yun lagi pero hindi sa may-ari. Lagi kasing binibigyan ni Aling Gloria ng buto si Raul, eh.