In speeches in the United States, President Aquino cited the arrest and detention of his predecessor as well as three senators for plunder as proof that sweeping reforms are happening in the Philippines.
The message will be stronger if his allies who have been implicated in corruption scandals are also indicted and held without bail. Witnesses and official reports of the Commission on Audit have identified these allies. And the message will have the most powerful impact if guilt is established beyond reasonable doubt and the offenders end up behind bars – in a regular prison, not in a hospital or special facility where they can be molly-coddled and continue enjoying privileges denied to lesser mortals.
Police have been told to refrain from declaring a crime case solved until the perpetrator has been arrested, tried, convicted and sent to prison. The same can be said of the campaign against corruption.
True, the arrest and detention of several of the nation’s highest officials for large-scale corruption is as unprecedented as the ouster of a chief justice. But unlike the chief justice, who was removed from office after being found guilty in an impeachment trial, the defendants in the plunder cases are still presumed innocent and can still claim political persecution.
A conviction after a credible trial is the best way to dispel that claim. President Aquino has expressed his wish to see at least one such conviction before the end of his term in 2016. To do this, government prosecutors need sufficient resources to dig up solid evidence that can bolster the testimonies of witnesses. The prosecutors are ranged against some of the nation’s best lawyers. The government must be prepared for a bruising battle before reforms take root.