Free Erap!!!

E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

Free Erap!!!
Sunday, 05 07, 2006

Yesterday at the Hyatt Patisserie, I was having coffee with a friend, discussing the travails and misfortunes of people in general, when the drift of the dialogue turned to the subject of President Joseph Ejercito “Erap” Estrada and, as a matter of course, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Generally apolitical in his views and temperament, my friend paused in the middle of savoring his third cup of coffee and solemnly declared: “That call of Gloria for unity, in order to make the country move forward” — pause, and a short sip at the coffee — “it’s all a pile of cow flop unless she frees Erap.”

“Not that I’m one of those who would want to march with Erap sympathizers to hell and back,” my friend continued, “but let’s face it — the single, most important divisive factor in this country is the incarceration of Erap. Look, a full 85 percent of the people perceive him to be the best to lead us out of the quagmire we are in.”

I reminded my friend that the plunder case against Erap may make him unavailable to take up the role of such leader. “True enough,” my friend countered, “but his continuing cry for justice — to be free even as the litigation before the Sandiganbayan continues — personifies the same plaints of the people, which must be addressed by Gloria who, tragically, is getting insensitive with every passing day.”

My friend went on: “Five years after he was humiliated, treated like a common criminal, haled to court for charges that hang loosely on the say-so of a certified liar, Erap continues to languish in jail, but his popularity has never waned. The surveys show his approval rating is way up there, six times more than the 11 million who voted him to office in 1998.

“May Day last week came and went, punctuated by the call of the veterans of Edsa III to give back Erap his freedom. And that was not without basis. Five years ago, they were pummeled, hosed down and shot at. Seventeen of them succumbed to the brutality of the shock troopers of Gloria. And even that injustice has never been addressed. What I’m saying is, their march for Erap was as much their march to free themselves from the injustices inflicted on them by the government.

“How a man immobilized by the whole government apparatus can generate so much hysteria of support for his innocence is phenomenal. This can only be construed as a show of the people’s belief in his innocence and, conversely, their distrust of a government that continues to hound Erap.

“Every mass movement, from the call for higher wages to opposition to Charter Change, finds reason to flourish in the unaddressed concerns of the poor. They pinned their hopes on Erap in 1998. Those hopes were dashed when Erap was put in jail. So what’s left to do? The masses have tried to let off steam at every turn, but they were thwarted at every turn by the superior power of calibrated preemptive response.

“The inability of the prosecution to pin down Erap is what exactly bedevils the government of Gloria. If those asskissers had all the evidence that would have supported the impeachment against Erap, what in the devil’s name keeps those bastards from laying them now before the Sandiganbayan? Every testimony against Erap has been discredited — exposed as fabrication, and the witnesses against him incredible to be believed. Every hearing exposes all the more the bankruptcy of the evidence against Erap. Mark this: just as the impeachment court that tried Erap failed to prove the charges against him, the Sandiganbayan will fail similarly to find evidence of Erap’s culpability. They’ve been trying like hell, and they’re miserably failing like hell. Jinggoy Estrada is free; Edward Serapio is free. The conspiracy theory is gone, and nothing can make the remaining evidence establish that Erap committed the crime they must now prove he committed all by himself.

“Erap’s continued detention sends the message that there is strong evidence against him. But 85 percent believe otherwise; and this is validated by the inability of the prosecution to prove anything. The role of the prosecution is not to convict, but to see that justice is done. In the face of this pitiful lack of evidence, the prosecutors should realize it is time to do an act that will endear them to everyone — and that is, to interpose no further objection to set Erap free. After all, when the evidence for a capital offense against an accused is weak, the latter has every right to post bail.

“The Sandiganbayan must revisit its previous ruling denying the application for bail of Erap, disregard for once any pressure to rule otherwise, and see that justice is done.

“Free Erap, and the nation will sure as hell move on. A government that refuses to show any sincerity in dealing with the case of Erap — by manipulating the matter of his freedom pending litigation as exclusively within the province of the court, when it can very well dictate upon the prosecution on how not to make it hard or impossible for Erap to post bail — cannot demand unity.

“Once the masses see that the personification of themselves is free again, they will see that Gloria is not the devil they perceive her to be, but an enlightened, remorseful fallen angel determined to set aright past sins and trespasses. Only by then can unity be achieved.

“Thanks for the free coffee. You know, we seldom get together for a relaxed time like this, but I do hope the next time will be an occasion when we both could say: ‘Erap is free!’ ”

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