Kapatiran’s commitment

By way of follow-up to last Thursday’s column on those charges of sexual harassment lodged by "Jessica," a Dean’s Lister, against a former professor at the Ateneo college, I called up the office of the European Commission to the Philippines and asked to talk to the accused to give him a chance to air his side of the story.

The former professor, one Luis Moratinos y Munoz, happens to be a Spanish national who is apparently the Third Secretary and Political Affairs Officer of the EC mission to the country. It will be recalled that he had allegedly flunked the complainant but later said that he could even give her an A in the subject if she "had sex" with him.

An investigating committee set up by the Ateneo de Manila University found that Moratinos "may have violated University policy and the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law." He was given an opportunity to answer the charges. But instead of doing so, Moratinos resigned and failed to appear at a hearing where his personal appearance was requested.

Our view was that if the man is proven guilty — criminal charges have also been filed against Moratinos in the office of the Quezon City Prosecutor — he should not have been allowed to resign. He should be fired, prohibited from "teaching" ever again in any school in this country, declared persona non grata by the Philippine government, and kicked out as a totally undesirable alien, specifically a sexual predator in academic robes.

But that, of course, is a big "if," so we thought that in fairness we should give him a chance to respond or, if he wished, refuse to answer us on the ground that he would reply to the criminal charges in an appropriate administrative or judicial forum. In the latter instance, we would at least be sure he was going to face up to the charges, and the facts brought to the full light of day, rather than try to evade any inquiry by the simple expedient of resigning his part-time, contractual position.

Well, we called up his office at the European Commission to the Philippines and spoke to a very accommodating official in that office. The official informed us that Mr. Moratinos was out of the country for "training" in Brussels, Belgium — I don’t know if the training includes proper orientation and training on how not to run afoul of sexual harassment situations in the country of assignment — but would be back by March 12th.

I left my number and asked for a return call when Moratinos returned to the country. Since the matter was already of public record, I also briefed that person on what my inquiries would be about. I shall await that return call with bated breath.

In the meantime, I understand from a friend who has access to such information, that Moratinos, although a Spanish national, is not in any way connected with the Spanish embassy. That’s good to know because unconfirmed rumors have been floating about in regard to his allegedly "close connections" at that embassy.

I understand too that although the embassy will be concerned that Mr. Moratinos is afforded his rights to due process and a fair hearing or trial (if it comes to that), it will not otherwise interfere in any administrative or judicial process involving the charges regarding Mr. Moratinos’s behavior.

So far, I have not heard any reports of claims of diplomatic immunity for Mr. Moratinos. I certainly hope we don’t go there. If there is any indication that that might be one direction in which this case might go, I’ll certainly have something to say about that.

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Aside from the Genuine Opposition and the administration’s Team Unity, one political party that’s been conducting a somewhat surprising campaign is Ang Kapatiran. Its campaign manager, gun control advocate Nandy Pacheco, has managed to get his thus far tiny group to make appearances in Metro Manila, two cities in the Visayas and three big cities in Mindanao.

The party has only three candidates for the Senate: former Visiting Forces Agreement executive director Zosimo Paredes, lawyer Adrian Sison and gastroenterologist and balikbayan doctor Martin Bautista.

The party has no other candidates for national or local office but Nandy says all it’s aiming for at this early stage of its existence is to build a "critical mass" of voting citizens that will adhere to its ideals.

In a previous column, we explained in general what these ideals are. Basically, they have to do with morality, personal as well as official, respect for life in all its aspects and genuine good governance. There is no question these ideals have to be stated in this age of skepticism and widespread disgust with politicians and their antics.

Mr. Paredes was recently in the news because there was some speculation he would be invited by the Genuine Opposition to fill the slot vacated by ousted independent candidate Kiko Pangilinan. Paredes has announced he wouldn’t join the GO if invited because doing so would be contrary to his principles and those of his party.

"Idealistic" political parties like Kapatiran should be encouraged in this avowedly multi-political party environment of ours. Parties such as this should also be taken seriously and included in the substantial debate on issues that we all hope will still be embarked on by all our candidates for office.