GO
MANILA, FEBRUARY 2, 2012 (TRIBUNE) NO HOLDS
BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna (photo) And before we know it, 2012 will be over.
How quick time flies. It seemed like only yesterday, my family and I were at the
Hong Kong International Airport, fretting over the delay of our Philippine
Airlines flight back home. And now it's the last day of the first month of the
year.
What's in store for the country, no one can say, for sure. While I'm no
longer the astrology enthusiast I used to be, I still hope the Chinese
calendar's Water Dragon does not bring any more floods, or any more
water-related disasters. As heaven is our witness, we've had more than our fair
share of such.
Politically, well, 2013 is an election year. The confusingly anti-Gloria
Arroyo but seemingly pro-Renato Corona Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz warns us
to be wary of reelectionist senators "grandstanding" in "telenovela" style in
the impeachment proceedings, and that "There will be many motions that will be
filed, so it's going to be a very long process… and since the 2013 balloting is
fast approaching, many senators seeking reelection will consider their bid in
whatever decision they make in the trial."
The reelectionists among the senator-judges are Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda,
Alan Peter Cayetano, Greg Honasan, Koko Pimentel and Sonny Trillanes. Ms Legarda
showed up today. The five on the floor have yet to get into anything close to
"grandstanding" or "telenovela" stuff.
Truth is, no one can tell how the current impeachment trials shall end; if
the Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice goes, or not; gets acquitted; or impeached
by a 16-man vote of the senator-judges; or simply resigns. Malayo pang matapos
ang boksing, no matter what the pundits and haka-haka experts aver.
Meanwhile, my e-mail folder fairly hums with activity. Emmanuel LJ Mapili
writes, "The Constitution provides that a Member of the Judiciary must be, among
other things, a member of the Philippine Bar and a person of integrity.
Integrity, according to English author Samuel Johnson, without knowledge is weak
and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
"Recall that almost thirty years ago twelve SC justices, including bar
topnotchers Justice (later Chief Justice) Claudio Teehankee and Justice
Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera, resigned due to the so-called 1981 Bar scandal,
albeit majority of them were innocent of the events that led to the scandal.
Hence, they were not only members of the judiciary with so much knowledge but
also with so much integrity. Indeed a rare breed of men and women. Need I say
more?"
Briefly, a backgrounder: In 1981, one of the SC Associate Justices ordered
bar personnel to find out if his son had passed the bar, before the results were
released. The son's score fell a couple of notches below; the associate
justice/father asked another colleague to help him advocate for the lowering of
the passing grade to make his son hit pasang-awa, something which the SC did
from time to time.
Lusot na sana, but Justice Melencio-Herrera discovered the finagling and
brought it to the attention of then SC Chief Justice Enrique Fernando. As
chairman of that year's bar examination, Justice Melencio-Herrera invoked
command responsibility and resigned, at hindi lang siya ang nag-resign, hindi
lang ang mga guilty kundi silang lahat, all fifteen of them in the SC.
President Ferdinand Marcos reappointed them shortly after, with the exception
of the two most guilty participants. I don't recall grumbling to have followed
the reappointment, paano kasi, it was the entire court that stepped forward for
judgment. Delicadeza was the order of the day; delicadeza saved the day.
We've just found out that CJ Corona allegedly got a 40 percent discount for
the purchase of a condominium unit in his daughter's name, which he paid for as
that daughter was abroad. And that the representative of the developer of the
condominium could not explain the hefty discount, even after he confirmed such
discount. What comes close to delicadeza, with the case on hand? You tell me.
From reader Arlene de la Calzada, "To achieve the positive result of "daang
matuwid" … Objective, a fair and impartial verdict of the impeachment trial.
Requirements, 1) Senator-judges; 2) Prosecutors; 3) Council for the Defense;
and, 4) Witnesses / evidence.
"Qualification of (those in) the requirements' list: Clean. Example:
Respondent was charged with not filing and disclosing his SALn, then it is a
must that the (senator) judges, prosecutors… the defense (if applicable), and
witnesses (if applicable) and spokespersons (if applicable) also have their
SALn's files disclosed to the public.
"Result: Verdict acceptable to the public."
And here Sen. Lito Lapid slithers into the hot seat. Sure, he's not the one
up for impeachment, but hey. How can one associated with undisclosed monies
render credible judgment also on the matter of undisclosed monies?
His first reaction to his wife's arrest was to say "Mayaman si Marissa, hindi
ko pera iyon," as if the crime had to do with who owned the U$50,000 caught in
his wife's possession, when, really, it was simply the violation of United
States Custom rules regarding the amount of US dollars foreigners are allowed to
bring in, $10,000, and not a dollar more.
Media put out properties owned by the Lapids to perhaps show the source of
the dollars, and people reacted. Are said properties reflected in the senator's
SALn? Must they be reflected? I think so. Oh, yes, I think so.
Then we got news, in bits and pieces. First, that Marissa Lapid had $10,000
cash, in her purse, and the rest divided in a sock and another container in her
suitcase. Hindi naman daw sinasadya, but, what can be more sinasadya, than cash
split into various amounts, in various holders, in one's maleta?
Mrs. Lapid's American lawyer entered the picture, this is not a new arrest,
he clarified, she went back to the US to face an earlier smuggling of dollars
charge which she had left hanging, when she flew back to Manila after the
arrest. Nahuli na pala, kung paanong nakabalik dito, ewan ko na naman.
The soft-spoken former stuntman and action star, former governor and senator
several times over, maintains his wife is sorry, and sounds like he believes she
should be forgiven. Will he absolve the CJ if says sorry, too? Abangan.
11 months to go, before the year is over. May time really fly as quick as
January has.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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