Justice not revenge

There are people who keep repeating that we should stop investigating, and even talking about the corruption in the past, and just talk about the issues of today. There are those who keep claiming that these investigations into the sins of the regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is  a matter of vindictiveness.

This is the same mantra we heard after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship. Again the call was for so-called reconciliation. Even though  they never even apologized for the martial law years, they were to be forgiven for whatever transgressions were  committed against the Filipino people. Today PCGG Chairman Andy Bautista has publicly stated that the cases for recovering stolen wealth have become much harder because so many of those implicated in the cases have been restored to political and economic power.

Today, we are told that the pork barrel scams that happened under the watch of GMA should be set aside. The Fertilizer Fund scam allegedly involving Arthur Yap and Jocjoc Bolante should be forgotten.

Political and media personalities want to brainwash the public that any call for investigating and charging personalities in the past administration is only vindictiveness or even petty mindedness on the part of the current administration.

There is a difference between justice and revenge. Justice involves moral rightness while revenge focuses more on a personal vendetta. Justice is served by the courts of law while revenge is enforced by an individual seeking retribution for wrongdoing.

Justice is positive while revenge is negative. Justice brings closure while revenge results in personal satisfaction.

There are extremely powerful interests in politics, business and media that will try to discredit P-Noy’s anti-corruption drive. There is a lot at stake – in terms of wealth and power.

But in his struggle to transform Philippine society, P-Noy will have the support of those who truly want to institutionalize the rule of law in this country. Here are two of the many responses I have received through social media:

“Of all the news comments in this PDAF scam, I find your piece worth reading. Obviously some people missed the point. They are saying all negative things against the administration or P-Noy in particular.

Don’t they realize that if not for P-Noy this whole thing might not be investigated at all? Or maybe those propaganda against P-Noy come from the beneficiaries of the PDAF scam...I hope people will realize and think twice before believing all these negative news about P-Noy...” — Engineer Marlene Martinez

“I would like to thank you for your article. You have managed to write about all the frustrations I have. I console myself with the fact that no matter what the President does, people who have never liked him will always have something negative to say. If he does not show up, he is branded as insensitive, and people will ask ‘where is he?’ If he shows up he is branded as ‘epal.’ If he had not personally accepted the surrender of JLN, and she managed to evade capture, imagine what people would have said — incompetent...stupid! And when he does accept her surrender, they say she is receiving special treatment.

“JLN has information that may expose many people in government. She will be able to name names. And this is why she must be protected at all costs. I am sure that the greedy people she’s been dealing with will not have qualms about snuffing her out...that is why she must be dealt with in a SPECIAL manner.

“Those who are again making noise do not seem to want to understand this. Maybe they are part of the list in her notebook. Well , they will have to watch out for the Three Furies. Thank you for expressing what I’ve been feeling.” –Peachy  Rosales- Natividad, MD

I have never met these two citizens. But I thought their feelings capture the emotions and frustrations of the silent majority. I empathize with their hope and belief that P-Noy and the three women in the IAAGCC, dubbed as the Three Furies, will be able to ferret out the truth and file charges against even the most powerful violators of the law. The three women charged with this daunting task are COA head Grace Pulido Tan, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

I  am less confident about the possibility of success of convictions in our judicial system. The record of convictions has been very poor. The cases against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Ampatuans are still barely crawling in the judiciary.

Take the case of P728 million Fertilizer Fund scandal. The initial charges against Arthur Yap and Jocjoc Bolante were first filed in 2004. After the murder of Marlene Garcia Esperat in 2005, the case was dismissed in 2008 for “insufficient evidence” by Ombudsman Gutierrez who later resigned to avoid an impeachment case.

In 2011, the P-Noy government filed plunder charges in the Sandiganbayan but the case is still pending in the Second Division which is chaired by Justice Teresita-Baldos with Associate Justice Oscar Herrerra Jr. and Associate Justice Napoleon Inoturan.  Sandiganbayan chief Justice Ong has been linked to Napoles by a whistleblower.

I am waiting for the passage of the Freedom of Information law. My first request will be to get a copy of the reportedly more than 180 administrative cases against judges in the office of the Court Administrator. According to a lawyer friend, these administrative cases just “lie there and die there.”

The hunt for truth in the past administrations of Marcos and Arroyo is not about revenge motivated by the desire to inflict personal harm. The hunt for truth, in whatever presidential regime, is the desire for justice.

True justice is motivated by the desire to establish a better society — where the rule of law is institutionalized. The line between justice and revenge is not as thin as we are all being led to believe.

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