Lawmakers teach us to be lawbreakers

Rumors have it that presidential consultant Gloria Tan Climaco had something to do with Dante Canlas’s removal as economic planning chief. Records belie it, though. Climaco had backed Canlas on at least two major projects: the EDSA metrorail extension from Quezon City to Caloocan, and the Carmen-Compostela water system in Cebu.

Against screeching congressmen in a House hearing, Climaco stood by Canlas for a new railway bidding to fetch the lowest price. No way were they to simply sign a supplemental agreement with the present operator. For that, a legislator who claims closeness to First Gentleman Mike Arroyo remarked: "Mataray pa ito kaysa doon sa isang Gloria." Another referred to her as "that Climaco girl." To which she retorted: "I resent that. I want it put on record. I have all the credentials and experience to back up my position."

On the Cebu waterworks, Climaco defended Canlas’s 2004 deadline to increase the province’s supply by 25 percent.

The two differed only on Piatco. In a Senate inquiry Climaco testified to three galling supplemental agreements; Canlas said he saw no problem. Undersecretary Popo Lotilla later swore that NEDA’s investment council never approved any of the supplements.

Why was Canlas sacked? Palace sources say it has to do with an Asian Development Bank electricity project in Leyte-Samar, long delayed because of his insistence on revisions.

* * *

"I felt miserable that I didn’t have shoes, until I saw a man who had no legs." Visit to the National Orthopedic Hospital’s School for Crippled Children, Banawe St., Quezon City. If you can, please donate instructional aids, like books and computers, for elementary and high school students.

Dr. Luis P. Tagayun, NOH-SCC head, oversees four other facilities near you: Tahanang Walang Hagdanan in Cainta; Elks Cerebral Palsy Center in Makati; Sta. Lucia School in Novaliches; Masonic Charity for Crippled Children in Tondo, Manila. Call (02) 732-2499.

* * *

Travel, Mark Twain said, broadens the horizon, lengthens the conversation, but flattens the wallet. Book yourself for the holidays in resorts run by the Philippine Tourism Authority:

Banaue Hotel-Youth Hostel in Ifugao, Mt. Data Hotel in Mountain Province, San Fabian Beach Resort or Hundred Islands National Park in Pangasinan, Mt. Arayat National Park or Paskuhan Village in Pampanga, Picnic Grove in Tagaytay, Balicasag Dive Island in Bohol, MacArthur Park Beach Resort in Leyte, Gardens of Malasag in Cagayan de Oro, or Zamboanga Beach Park.

Call the PTA reservations office: (02) 524-2502, 524-2495, or e-mail [email protected].

* * *

The Supreme Court has spoken. Mark Jimenez, whether he’s congressman or any other man, cannot post bail to evade extradition. Long live the Court! Long live the Republic!

But wait, what’s that noise? One congressman can’t seem to accept the verdict of the final arbiter. He’s not only hooting that the Court erred in its ruling. He’s also agitating his colleagues to sign a dissenting opinion of Congress, as a coequal branch of government, that no legislator may be arrested while in office. Another congressman is picking a fight with the executive branch. He wants Jimenez put in the custody of the House of Representatives. "Let those who want to deport him come and get him," he dares. Those two are from the ruling party. A third, an Opposition leader, is clapping with glee that a constitutional crisis is in the offing, whoopee.

That’s what’s wrong with our leaders. They’re the best arguments against parliamentary or any other form of government. They can’t help but parade ignorance and arrogance around for us to emulate. That’s why this country is in such a mess.

The first congressman misinterprets the Constitution. No legislator may be arrested for a minor criminal or civil offense, true, but only while Congress is in session. Not when it’s in recess for, say, Christmas. And certainly not for the duration of a lawmaker’s term. Is the congressman deliberately distorting the Constitution? Only he knows. But he’s setting a bad example of suiting the rules to one’s personal preference. No wonder we have self-righteous Makati businessmen demanding reforms when RP’s Corruption Rating worsens, yet also objecting when the President voids an onerous contract like Piatco’s. No wonder we have hawkers insisting on occupying the sidewalks since they’ve been there for decades. No wonder we have jeepney drivers loading and unloading in the middle of streets because naghahanap-buhay lang naman.

The second misuses his authority. He aims to exhibit how Congress can make minor officials, like deportation agents, shake in their boots. It’s called power of the purse, but it’s more a curse. In his presence, bright men turn timid. No wonder we have bureaucrats doing what the boss says even if it’s wrong. No wonder we have policemen looking the other way when an offender is from an influential family. No wonder Filipinos have this puwede -na-’yan attitude towards work.

The third congressman is, well, you be the judge of his cheering on a constitutional crisis. Is he any different from an Opposition senator who, invited recently to talk to a hundred foreign investors about "the workings of the Senate," digressed from his topic to urge them to pack up because it’s crazy to put money in unless it’s his party that’s in power?

They both assume that what they do is part of free speech. No wonder we have Abu Sayyaf terrorists driving away traders and tourists with kidnapping. No wonder we have Customs inspectors mulcting passengers at airports as a matter of privilege. No wonder we have this cabbie yelling on TV that he has a right to make a left turn on EDSA, contrary to new traffic rules of metropolitan authorities, because the Constitution so guarantees. (Really? What article, what section?)

The Supreme Court ruling is a quick lesson in legal tenets and terms. Jimenez is facing charges in the US of illicit campaign contributions, mail fraud and tax evasion. US lawmen have requested his extradition under a valid treaty. Jimenez must thus be deported. To do this, he may be arrested. Then, he can post bail in the US while attending to his trial.

In his defense, Jimenez had cried oppression. He claimed he cannot be arrested because he’s not facing any charges in RP, let alone be detained because he has not been sentenced. That’s really pushing it. "Arrest" in this case does not pertain to court charges. Congressmen do know the broader meaning of the term. Their own rules state that the House sergeant-at-arms may arrest them on orders of the Speaker if only to ensure quorum in sessions. "Detain" does not mean prison either. Only Joseph Estrada’s drug-crazed mob that attacked Malacañang believes such a line that he should not be in hospital detention because he has not yet been convicted of plunder. A man may be detained at the airport for questioning if his passport looks fake. A minor may be detained at the barangay hall for violating curfew until his parents fetch him. In Jimenez’s case, though, the distorted, emotional argument detained the attention of Congress and the Court for weeks.

Jimenez is now on the retreat, contemplating voluntary deportation. The danger in the antics of his rear guards in Congress is in disrespect for rules and authority. The congressmen make it appear that the Supreme Court does not have the last word on Constitution and law. That was the same line fed to Erap’s mob – that despite three Supreme Court rulings, he is still President. From there, agitators marched them to Malacañang.

By raising the specter of "sense of Congress" or "come and get him" or "constitutional crisis," the congressmen show that disorder can and must go on for just one man. It does not matter to them that 51 percent of poll respondents don’t trust that man and 72 percent want him deported. Nor does it matter that that man has a slew of unpaid bills, ranging from election posters to antique furniture to workers’ wages. What matters for the congressmen is that he’s one of them. Sila-sila.

* * *

Catch Sapol ni Jarius Bondoc, Saturdays at 8 a.m., on DWIZ (882-AM).

* * *

You can e-mail comments to [email protected]