Law should govern man; reason the law - ROSES AND THORNS by Alejandro R. Roces

We are very happy about the way the impeachment trial is being conducted because we believe that all controversial national problems should be resolved according to law. We cannot have a country where our top leaders believe in law and order only when they lay down the law and give the orders. More important than making the laws is the execution of the law. The law applies to all. That is why this impeachment trial is so important. Our state penitentiary is crowded with convicted thieves. But the biggest thefts in the country have been committed by politicians in power. There has never been a big-time grafter who has been jailed.

The same holds true for our so-called death-penalty law. All those who have been convicted are poor inconsequential people. To this day, the military person who gave the orders for the assassination of Ninoy Aquino has not even been identified. But the soldiers who just executed his orders were convicted and are now in jail. We say "military person who gave the orders" because soldiers do not accept orders from civilians unless he happens to be Commander-in-Chief. The greatest crimes in this country have been committed by big-time politicians and big-time businessmen. Yet, none of them have even been jailed. We hope that the impeachment trial will be, first of all, fair and just. Second, that it will serve to expose the depth of corruption in our government and all individuals that participated and benefited from the said corruption. They should also be charged.

If anything can restore our people’s faith in the government, it is a fair impeachment trial. It is belief in the Constitution that is at stake. In The Rights of Man, Thomas Paine said, "A constitution is a thing antecedent to a government, and a government is only the creature of a constitution. The constitution of a country is not the act of its government, but of the people constituting a government."

In the impeachment trial, all senator are judges. But the real problem is not the number of judges. The question is: Will they come out with sound judgment? At least two senators have shown signs that they had already made a judgment on the case even before it began.

Unquestionably, the results of the impeachment trial will determine the state of justice in the country. Without justice, liberty and equality become farcical. Justice is not only truth in action, it is the crowning glory of all virtues for every virtue is encompassed in justice.