Justice delayed is justice denied

After a few months of relative calm on the PDAF front, the names are now coming at a much faster pace. Already eight out of the 24 senators have been implicated in the Napoles scandals.

Most prominent are the three senators – Enrile, Estrada, Revilla – who are about to be charged with plunder. The only questions now are when the arrest warrants will be issued and where they will be jailed. Then there were the three other senators – Honasan, Marcos, Sotto – whose names were among those in the original list of lawmakers implicated by the different testimonies. In case people have forgotten, Sotto was the one who supposedly sent dengue medicine to a town where there was no dengue epidemic and whose mayor claimed they never received any medicine.

When the name of Bongbong Marcos was linked to some of the PDAF scams, some people were surprised because the Marcos family is the subject of PCGG investigations and are alleged to be already worth billions of US dollars in hidden wealth.

Just this week, the names of two senators have cropped up as being linked to the NABCOR and Napoles NGOs scams worth again billions of pesos. These are Senators Recto and Lapid. One senator – Recto – immediately issued a public denial of any link to the pork barrel scams. The other senator had a more interesting reaction. If I heard it correctly, the office of Senator Lapid said that since there were so many persons and institutions asking Senator Lapid for endorsements, they could not remember the specific NGOs named by the NABCOR whistleblowers.

Does this, therefore, mean that Senator Lapid signs endorsement letters without any background checks or file records? Does he consider signing endorsement letters as simply a political function? Even if the endorsement is worth millions of pesos?

Then there is the name of Arthur Yap, now Bohol congressman and former NFA head, who seems to keep popping up almost every time there is a corruption investigation. This reminds me that the fertilizer fund scandal involving him and Jocjoc Bolante is still crawling in the Sandiganbayan Second Division.

But now the focus of attention and citizen vigilance must shift to the judiciary. P-Noy and his Three Furies – De lima, Carpio-Morales, Pulido Tan – can do all the investigations and file all the charges, but it is the judiciary that will either convict or acquit.

Among the three branches of government – executive, legislative, judiciary – it is the judiciary that should adhere to the highest standards of integrity. This is the branch of government that is the final arbiter of the law.

But it is no secret that there is corruption in the judiciary. The exposé of the “Ma’m Arlene” case, the equivalent of Napoles in the judiciary, by columnist Jarius Bondoc is a vivid illustration of the present level of integrity in the judicial system.

Last year, the Supreme Court decided to form a special committee to investigate alleged influence peddlers in the judiciary, especially a certain Arlene Angeles Lerma known as Ma’m Arlene. The head of the special investigation is Supreme Court Justice Marvic Leonen, the youngest member of the Supreme Court. He has impressive credentials. He was Dean of the UP College of Law and then the initial head of the government panel negotiating the Bangsamoro Framework Peace Agreement.

After five months of investigation, there is still no word from this investigation committee. This seems to be the basic difference between the judiciary on one hand and the executive and legislative on the other.

The executive and legislative investigations of corruption are much more transparent. There are frequent press conferences and public updates. The Senate Blue Ribbon demands regular public updates and conduct televised public hearings even if those being investigated are fellow senators.

On the other hand, the judiciary conducts its investigation of judges and other judicial personalities in complete secrecy and away from the public eye. They create the impression that judges are superior creatures and should, therefore, not be subject to public scrutiny.

The public mood these days is for more transparency and that is why there is a clamor for the Freedom of Information bill. But it seems the judiciary does not consider transparency part of the essence of a true democracy.

Once the plunder cases are filed against Enrile, Estrada and Revilla and the graft cases against the other lawmakers, the final justice will now be in the hands of the Sandiganbayan and other courts in the judiciary.

Will justice be blind and swift? Or will the Enrile, Estrada, Revilla plunder cases and the other Napoles PDAF graft join the long list of injustices awaiting final decision – the Fertilizer Fund scandal, the GMA electoral cases, the PCGG cases against the Marcos ill gotten wealth, the Ampatuan massacre, Delfin Lee, and the endless list of other less publicized victims.

Can someone please remind our judiciary – Justice Delayed is Justice Denied!

Remembering Billy Esposo

William “Billy” Mcgregor Esposo passed away a year ago. In his lifetime, he achieved that rarest distinction – a man whose words and thoughts helped shape the history of our country.

He headed Cory Aquino’s media bureau during the 1986 presidential election which led to the restoration of democracy after decades of Marcos martial rule. He became Director General of the Philippine Information Agency and later became president of the RPN-Channel 9 Television and Radio Network.

In December 2006 Billy started writing a column in Philippine STAR which he called “As I Wreck This Chair.” He became a multi-awarded opinion writer and was conferred the Presidential Legion of Honor for his contribution to the restoration of Philippine democracy.

But to me, Billy was a very good friend and comrade-in-arms. We first met in early 1984 in what was supposed to be a political caucus. It turned out to be a meeting of four persons including Nap Rama, Sonny Belmonte, Billy and myself. This was during the dark days of martial law. Shortly after, I became active in Jaime Ferrer’s campaign for assemblyman in the Parañaque-Las Piñas area. I immediately asked Billy to help, which became the birth of our partnership.

We worked together in the campaign, and worked for PDP-Laban when it was the most active political opposition group against the dictatorship. And later we worked for Cory Aquino and her struggle to restore democracy.

In August 2009, Billy wrote a column detailing why Noynoy Aquino should run for president. He was the first public figure to endorse a P-Noy presidency. For this, he was christened as the Prophet by P-Noy.

I will always remember Billy Esposo who, in the words of P-Noy, gave his all for his country and his people.

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