Crime and punishment

It was a favorite refrain of the Aquino administration: justice first before reconciliation.

That was how post-EDSA Philippines was supposed to deal with the Marcos forces and the atrocities of the dictatorship. The same principle was applied to the military officers who launched coup attempt after coup attempt, setting back every effort at economic recovery.

And the refrain made sense. The guilty must be punished to send the message that crime does not pay and the sins of the past are not repeated. The 2005 version of reconciliation with justice is that there can be no forgiveness without accountability.

It overlooked only one thing: justice in this country can be maddeningly elusive. At the end of the Aquino administration, the country had neither justice nor reconciliation, and the forces of the first people power revolt were under fire for vindictiveness.

The rule of law, an indispensable ingredient in a strong democracy, never took root in post-EDSA Philippines. And because the guilty went unpunished, we are saddled to this day with crooks at all levels of government.

Now we are faced with yet another political crisis. Will we see justice and accountability this time? Or will everything be swept messily under the rug again, with matters of law being settled through political compromise?

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Sure, the soldiers in the killings of Benigno Aquino Jr. and Rolando Galman are still in prison. But 22 years after the Aquino assassination, the mastermind has not been positively identified. We cannot just insist that Ferdinand or Imelda Marcos or both ordered it; we must prove it, and know the how and why. All questions must be answered. Guilt must be established beyond reasonable doubt to serve as a lesson in justice.

Some people might say that dying in exile was punishment enough for Ferdinand Marcos. But whatever lessons his disgrace might impart are erased when you see his widow enjoying her wealth, still singing and unrepentant, rehabilitated and welcomed in social circles.

None of the Marcos heirs has spent even a minute behind bars. Imelda was elected to Congress, and two of her children are unbeatable in Ilocos politics.

Many of the Marcos cronies are also back and fully rehabilitated; several still wield considerable influence in national affairs.

Little wonder then that 19 years after those four days in February 1986, when an oppressed people rose with pride against tyranny and plunder, the land of people power is consistently ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and is Asia’s economic basket case.

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The rare times that we manage to show the will to prosecute, we don’t know what to do afterwards.

We have the spectacle of a former president, who won by a landslide in free elections, kicked out of office on unresolved allegations of corruption. With the wheels of justice stalled as usual, he has been reduced to talking to his ducks. We don’t know whether to punish or pamper, so he is detained in the comfort of his own rest house, allowed to go abroad for medical treatment, and nearly sent into exile last year except some nasty foreign diplomats refused to cooperate.

Do we lack the national nerve or political will to punish, or are we plain lazy in everything including the task of prosecution? Is it just a failure of the criminal justice system?

South Korea imprisoned, convicted, punished and then pardoned two of its former presidents for corruption and human rights violations. The Koreans continue to go after anyone, including the chairmen of failed chaebols or business conglomerates, who have broken the law.

The Americans are sending CEOs to prison for cooking corporate books and duping investors. In this country, the BW stock manipulation scandal has been forgotten.

Elsewhere celebrity is no guarantee of immunity from prosecution; Martha Stewart still wears a prison anklet for insider trading, and Michael Jackson narrowly missed spending the best years of his life behind bars. Where the rule of law prevails, movie stars and top politicians are sent to jail for everything from murder to drug offenses and minor infractions such as drunken driving or hitting a hotel concierge with a telephone.

In this country, we can’t even prosecute entertainers for tax evasion without someone crying political harassment. Children, mistresses and cronies of those in power are untouchable.

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Now here we are facing another political crisis, while all our neighbors are sprinting ahead of us. As one foreign observer told me, we are one of the few countries bucking the upward development trajectory in this part of the world. Soon even Vietnam and Cambodia will overtake the Philippines.

Can there be truth and justice this time, to pave the way for genuine reconciliation so the country can move on?

We have no choice but to try. Foreigners who were here two decades ago and witnessed the events that led to the fall of Marcos tell me that nothing has changed in the political system despite the restoration of freedom.

A tiny fraction of the population remains in control of power and wealth, passing these on to their offspring like a birthright and perpetuating the political system.

Corruption is as bad as ever, and the state seems powerless to enforce even the most basic laws. The only things growing are the population and public desperation.

Back in 1986 at least we had democracy. For about a year the nation reveled in the euphoria of restored freedom, thinking everything that was wrong during the dictatorship would right itself.

Exercised without the requisite responsibility, freedom sadly came to be seen as the right to do anything. These days some people are grousing that we have too much freedom and too little responsibility and accountability.

After EDSA I, an opposition that was so reviled and discredited by the sins of the past could not provide an effective system of checks and balances crucial for strengthening a fragile democracy.

As a result, the post-EDSA administration came to have its own cast of characters close to those in power who were linked to smuggling, illegal gambling and corruption, but were never called to account for their sins. With the opposition too weak to perform its role in a democracy, what came to be called Kamag-anak Inc. got away with not even a slap on the wrist.

This time there is an opposition that, while hopelessly fragmented and often irresponsible, might yet manage to rise to the occasion to help satisfy the public’s wish for truth, justice and the rule of law.

I know, I know, I must be high on something.