EDITORIAL - You can’t hide

Flight may be seen as a sign of guilt, but this has not stopped people from skipping town to avoid the possibility of arrest. This is especially true when there is a strong prospect of detention without bail.

With the mountain of stories coming out on the pork barrel scam, it is easy to deduce who are likely to face criminal indictments. Formal charges are expected to be filed this coming week. Even in the absence of arrest warrants, authorities should start keeping an eye on the personalities mentioned as potential defendants.

Already, immigration officials have confirmed the departure from the country of some of the individuals implicated in the scam by whistle-blowers. There is no order to hold their departure, and perhaps those persons are merely on vacation and will return to the country. The unavoidable public impression, however, is that attempts to evade justice have started.

Most of the individuals mentioned in the news stories have enormous resources to do this. Surely they are taking their cue from others before them, from way back in the time of Ferdinand Marcos. Several of the late dictator’s closest cronies remain beyond the reach of Philippine law, enjoying life and their ill-gotten wealth overseas.

This time, the government should do a better job of going after those implicated in the blatant misuse of public funds. The country has international law enforcement linkages to track down fugitives. It’s also a good time for the country to test the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. In effect since December 2005, the convention binds signatories to hand over to a requesting state persons wanted for graft and corruption.

If there is no extradition treaty with the Philippines, the convention can serve as a legal basis for extraditing the individual wanted for corruption. The treaty also includes international cooperation in gathering and transferring evidence for prosecution as well as in the recovery and return of illegally amassed assets. The government must make full use of the convention. It’s time for the country to send a strong message to the corrupt: you can run but you can’t hide.