Is there a surreptitious witnesses academy?

The way witnesses have been popping up to testify to all sorts of scandals starting with the "Hello Garci!" tapes to the alleged payoff of poll officials that took place at the President’s La Vista residence in January 2004, one cannot but wonder whether we have a surreptitious witnesses academy. First, going by what has been reported in the press, many of the witnesses so far seem to have been paid, first, to testify, then to withdraw their testimony. We have had an excess of witnesses but so far none with any credibility.

Archbishop Cruz who said he was going to provide the investigators with witnesses now says that he has run out of witnesses after a provincial officer who executed a statement affirming an alleged payoff of poll officials later refused to present it as evidence. His reason? He had been forced at gunpoint to write the dictated statement in a Makati Hotel in the presence of former Defense Secretary Renato de Villa and ex-solicitous general Frank Chavez, who immediately denied the allegation. The provincial election officer is Ferdinand Gerardo of San Simon, Pampanga. He further alleged that retired police Gen. Julius Yarcia offered him money and a US visa if he testified before a Senate inquiry on jueteng. He backed out only because he was afraid it would endanger his life.

It has reached the extent that people no longer believe anything that they read in the newspapers. A witness is a person who actually saw and can therefore give a firsthand account on something that actually took place. Now witnesses have degenerated into criminals who have been paid to lie in court. What we cannot understand is how come witnesses who later retracted their statements have not been charged for libel. Until our libel law are strictly enforced, paid testimonies will be one of the country’s most flourishing businesses. The Department of Justice should see to it that our laws on libel are strictly enforced. We will relish the day when the first paid witness is actually convicted for lying under oath.

The truth is that today, one can be an instant celebrity simply by falsely exposing the President of the country. If one can get away with libeling the President, what defense does an ordinary citizen have against those who spread lies about them?

We want jueteng eradicated. And if there was any cheating in the last elections, we want to see those responsible charged in court. But we want to see are not false witnesses. We want to see the evidences presented that will be accepted in court. Only the truth can set us free. We should begin by going after witnesses who lied and then recanted their lies. Will we witness such a thing happen in our times? Or will the witnesses academy be a permanent part of Philippine society?