Misuse of the impeachment power is corruption

ENQUIRY

DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

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Misuse of the impeachment power is corruption

Sunday, 02 01, 2009

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At the First Integrity and Human Rights Conference convened last week by Transparency International-Philippines, together with the United Nations Development Programme, Commission on Human Rights, and Bisyon 2020, retired judge Dolores Español, chairman of TI-Phils., released the following Statement:

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“Transparency International-Philippines maintains a clear and focused definition of the term: Corruption is the misuse of entrusted power for private gain.

“The threat of impeachment against Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, over the alleged non-promulgation of a decision, smacks of corruption. Whereas impeachment is a constitutional process that must be set in motion with utmost responsibility, and only under circumstances supported by strong grounds and evidence, here is a case where the acts imputed to Chief Justice Puno are flimsy and wobbly, and do not fall under any of the grounds cited under Article XI, Section 2 of the Constitution.

“The threat of impeachment against the Chief Justice appears vague and rings hollow, and can only be perceived as yet another demonstration of the abuse and misuse of power. The prime source and supportive purveyors of this currently circulating story, despite their denials, could be identified by the discerning public. In addition, not to be discounted is the host of self-serving politicians wishing for a malleable High Court that will pave the way for Charter Change.

“The workings and efficacy of democratic institutions lose their legitimacy when they are manipulated and misused for private advantage. This is harmful in the established democracies, and even more so in emerging ones like the Philippines. Accountable political leadership cannot develop in a corrupt climate.

“The High Court, starting with the Chief Justice, can very well handle the very simple issue of non-promulgation of a decision. Internal issues in the Judiciary are best resolved by and among its members, and without the benefit of the destructive vent of partisan politics.

“The present Supreme Court has been generally held by the Filipino people as the most credible institution of government; in fact, the only credible institution that remains. Chief Justice Puno has instituted reforms like no other. The decisions of his court have, in the main, been praised for their even-handedness. Justice and fairness are once more the hallmarks of the High Court. Trail-blazing judicial remedies have been put in place. The Rule of Law has never been true as a rule as it is now.

“In this time of great many difficulties, when the political branches of the Philippine government can hardly deliver to the people what they ought to, when might is perverted into right, the last remaining vanguard that assures the nation that Right is Might, is the Judiciary.

“Transparency International-Philippines, therefore, deplores the meddlesome forays of politicians into the justice system, and calls on these politicians to stop their intrusive attempts, to allow the Justice system to do what it must to strengthen the faith of the people in a democracy where the Rule of Law applies to everyone without fear, facetiousness and favor.”

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The reflections of Maria Ressa on the Role of Media in Fighting Corruption and Human Rights Protection opened the eyes of many conference delegates to the power that media practitioners wield, and how some “bad” practitioners misusing that power after being infected by the virus of corruption have met their comeuppance.

Ressa’s advocacy of “zero tolerance” — one-strike and you’re gone for good — insofar as corrupt practices in media are handled, should be observed by all. If you are wondering where a once prominent media person is, ask Ressa and she will tell you how a P1,000 baksheesh could cause the loss of a job in an organization like ABS-CBN which abides by highly ethical and professional standards.

Its bad guys notwithstanding, media still serve the important function of exposing corruption. In the words of UNDP’s Omar Siddique, in his paper Human Development Report on Corruption in the Asia-Pacific, “The media can sustain an open and transparent flow of information, fostering a climate of opinion that is increasingly intolerant of corruption.”

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TI-Phils. will launch shortly its Bantay Agrikultura, a venture designed as a watchdog over the billions of funds being poured into agriculture and fisheries modernization.

The Joc-joc fertilizer scam, the Quedancor swine scam, the Livecor scam, the Spanish patrol boats scam, the NIA heavy equipment scam, etcetera, are now daily fare in media, unfortunately portraying the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its bureaus and attached agencies as hogging it up in the corruption trough. Under the watchful eyes of Bantay Agrikultura and the media, the DA should be able to free itself from the scourge that those swine in its bureaucracy and their benefactors have inflicted on the country.

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Corruptionary. From the best-selling dictionary of the Center for People Empowerment in Governance come these words and their meaning: “Ikaw na ang bahala” which means (1) tagubilin ng nagsasabing “bahala ka na sa akin,” o sa diretsahang kahulugan, “ang bayad ko, huwag mong kalilimutan”; (2) paboritong ekpresyon ng mga umaasa ng grasya mula sa tiwaling transakyon.” I could be wrong, but I seem to have heard these words uttered in the televised legislative investigation into the “Alabang Boys” Case.

(Comments to djraval2001@yahoo.com or
demareejbraval.blogspot.com)

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Politicians, back off (Puno)

ENQUIRY

DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

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Politicians, back off

Sunday, 01 18, 2009

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Politicians have latched on to the canard that Chief Justice Reynato Puno is about to be impeached. And why shouldn’t they? It always makes good copy if one is able to put in his centavo’s worth in a column inch of publicity.

But that is hardly the sane way to handle the canard. The term “canard” (which is what the brouhaha really is) is what has remained from an old French idiom, “vendre un canard à moitié,” meaning “to half-sell a duck.” These politicians are trying to make the public buy what looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and therefore must be a duck. And capitalizing on the current controversy over the Limkaichong Case, these politicians are hoping that the public would have sufficient interest in the duck, and eventually buy the whole canard.

The source and vendors of this currently circulating story of doubtful truth cannot be determined. Some say it could very well be a mere hallucination of a sometime (and future?) senator induced by the rumor concerning the non-promulgation of a decision by the Chief Justice. A very simple issue has been unnecessarily tainted with party politics and personalities. Internal issues in the Judiciary are best resolved by and among its members, and without the benefit of the speculative mind of a loudmouthed politician.

It is not fair to point an accusing finger on just anyone who stands to benefit from the ouster of the Chief Justice. And it would be callous and uncaring to conclude that the Chief Justice had it coming, because, after all, in our sickeningly politicized milieu, he is a noisome obstacle to the designs of choice people in the government who would benefit from his ouster.

The stalwarts of the Judiciary, starting with the Chief Justice, can very well handle themselves. They have hurdled far worse speculations before. Recall that the issue of non-promulgation cropped up middle of last year yet, but it became a cause celebre only after the politician opened his big mouth and regaled the nation with his “bright” reading of where we were headed. My own “bright” reading is this: The Judiciary does not need the politician’s distorted vision of events as viewed through politically tinted glasses.

With a moist eye toward 2010, politicians who are too eager to grab publicity are causing a great disservice to the Judiciary.

Wait, one even need not look toward that date. The denial of one top pol in the House — that there is an impeachment complaint to be filed — rings hollow and hypocritical, considering that, right now, strings, rods and wires are reportedly being pulled by the Puppeteer of the Palace so that this House character can be installed as top court jester.

It is not far-fetched that the canard was floated to distract the populace from far more serious issues. After all, it is part of a politician’s job description that one must be adept at creating smokescreens and a systematic organization of hatreds directed at people who do not share his opinions.

The Chief Justice hit it right on the head when he diagnosed the current brouhaha affecting him and the Judiciary as one that can be traced to lack of morals: The politicians’ propensity to blow out of proportion just about any issue that crops up; the litigants’ propensity to concoct every scenario to support a favorable ruling; the lack of perception by the public of how things should be, rather that seem to be; the use of media to fan the flames of discontent; etcetera.

It is time for the moral forces — not the politicians who are, after all, only aching to stay in, or return to, power — to assert themselves. The moral decadence of the people, especially with those politicians inebriated with power, is what ails the country. After all, the state of our legal system is a function of this moral decadence.

Imagine how much better we would be had we been spared the runaway speculations of politicians. In support of their putative candidacy to whatever position, they are currying favor with groups belonging to the wide spectrum of Judiciary loathers. They know very well that the canard they floated would gain enough buyers who would later remember every slurry thought about it as carrying their tag. Neat, but nasty. Effective, but effing immoral, as my British friend would say.

I say, let us heed the call of the Chief Justice for a moral reorientation, where everyone should be minded to articulate only what is fair and just; where the Judiciary must be spared from politics; where the litigants must limit themselves to what the rules and the laws provide; and where a fair discourse, rather than divisive rhetoric, of events holds sway.

The confluence of events and circumstances which gnaw at the credibility of the country’s justice system should be enough to prompt one to head for the nearest embassy and apply for citizenship elsewhere. Only an abiding trust in the Judiciary, the Supreme Court especially, has prevented a lot of people from committing this unpatriotic act. The Judiciary has always been the most credible institution of government, in fact, the only credible institution that remains. Chief Justice Reynato Puno has instituted reforms like no other. The decisions of his Court have, in the main, been praised for their even-handedness. Justice and fairness are once more the hallmarks of the Court. Trail blazing judicial remedies have been put in place. The Rule of Law has never been true as a rule as it is now.

In this time of great many difficulties, when the political branches of government can hardly deliver to the people what they ought to, the last remaining buoy that keeps the nation afloat is the Judiciary. The politicians are trying to tinker with the workings of justice, and a lot of angry people are not likely going to take this sitting down.

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Indeed, a decent man (Marcelino)

ENQUIRY

DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

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Indeed, a decent man

Sunday, 01 11, 2009

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Marine Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino has evidently left his mark in the brouhaha over the Alabang Boys. His refusal to bite the pizza or chicken costing at least three million pesos is one sure sign that there is still decency in our bureaucracy.

Decency, like corruption, is infectious. Having said that, I can almost entertain a vague longing that the entire corps of operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA ) will be infected — if they already are not — by the rare virus called decency, which our society sorely needs.

For all it is worth, that video clip of the ramshackle house where Marcelino grew up, and the sad story of his being unable to extend financial help to his sick sister despite his “lucrative” posting at the PDEA, should jolt everyone to realize that Marcelino and the likes of him deserve our praise and moral support.

Marcelino resisted the easy money, and sometime, somehow he will get his just reward, the least of which is a clear conscience. Unlike some people in the government that we have known, who have made their conscience their accomplice in crime, Marcelino allowed that small, inner voice to guide him to do the decent thing.

I will not comment on those who offered the bribe, beyond saying that I do hope the long arm of the law is indeed long enough to catch up with them in their gated enclaves at Ayala-Alabang.

The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) minces no words in defining bribery. Thus: (a) The promise, offering or giving, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage to any person who directs or works, in any capacity, for the person himself or for another person, in order that he, in breach of his duties, act or refrain from acting; and (b) The solicitation or acceptance, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage by any person who directs or works, in any capacity, for the person himself or for another person, in order that he, in breach of his duties, act or refrain from acting.

In certain countries where the “small gift,” the lagniappe, the mordida, and the baksheesh are considered part of the “normal, civilized way of conducting transactions,” there will always be the extended palm, ready to receive the token of a generosity that conveniently masks off an insidious venality. The suborner and the suborned have not embarrassed each other, and this shared guilt becomes a self-enforcing bond that seals subsequent deals.

The bribe givers in our society are emboldened only by the weakness of the person who would willingly accept the inducement. That weakness can be remedied only by a firm resolve on the part of the Marcelinos that are still with us to do the right thing. The climate under which the right thing could be done, that is, to reject the offer, can be created only by the person who is the object of the offer. This decision rests only between himself and his conscience.

Bribes are useless and ineffective if there are no takers. However conducive a culture could get that it breeds an atmosphere of extortion and bribery, all that a self-respecting man has to do is to say no. His honesty and sense of decency are his shields.

Those who offered the bribe could very well be unforgiving aggressors who are intent on breaking down the defenses of Marcelino’s sense of decency and honesty. Their over-riding goal is to get those boys out of the slammer, never mind if in the process they have to convince themselves that a little palm-greasing here never hurt anybody. After all, three million is just a piddling sum when ranged against a monthly take of 100 million from those places where “social users” give vent to their desire for ecstasy and high energy. A sense of family, they say, goaded the bribe offerors. Well, they can tell that to the marines. I say, it is profit that is the all-consuming desire of these offerors, and all scruples be damned! The sooner the Alabang Boys are out to the Fort, the sooner they can push their glassine envelopes into the hands of those who yearn for high energy and sudden ecstasy.

Corruption thrives only where there is an atmosphere of decadence and turpitude. Thankfully, Marcelino and his group of operatives at the PDEA are made of sterner stuff.

Bribe giving is both a weakness and a strength of those who cannot stand on their own. Its twin evil, extortion, on the other hand, is the easy but unconscionable conduct of those who are uneasy with the realization that which they have is all that they will ever need. The bribe giver preys on the vulnerability of the extortionist, and the extortionist takes advantage of the desperate need of the bribe giver to control results. In a moral and upright climate, however, one is useless without the other.

The UNCAC and local anti-corruption laws are not enough to deter the bribe givers and the bribe takers, who will always find a way to get around the penalties that await them. If we must succeed in eradicating corruption, we need to summon all the strength of our will to resist the temptation, to muster the courage to expose it. We need to cloak ourselves with the firm determination to put the bribe giver at the mercy of the law that he deigned to scoff at. Marcelino has shown us that it can be done.

Marcelino, deserving of a medal of honor, together with a Senate commendation, for his honesty, is teaching us to be able to say to ourselves: “I do not want anyone to induce me to commit a wrong. Decency is all I need.”

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My Man of the Year 2008... (Bro. Eddie)

ENQUIRY

DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

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My Man of the Year 2008...

Sunday, 01 04, 2009

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...is Bro. Eddie Villanueva of the Jesus is Lord Movement.

The year 2008 had the ugly stains of immorality splattered everywhere — from the botched multimillion-dollar deals with foreign entities, to the resurrected billion-peso dubious projects that have become the hallmarks of our current bureaucracy, to the shameless denigration of our democratic institutions, and down to the shameful efforts of the powers in government to stay beyond 2010.

It could not be said that no one lifted a hand or raised his voice to combat this immorality. But many of them failed. The sincerity and the outrage were there, but somehow there was lack of consistency in their efforts, or that they were simply not cut out to be credible to the great many who were looking for a rallying point. Or, worse still, that they succumbed too soon to the enticements — or the scare tactics — of those they were denouncing.

The nation has seen how political has-beens, presidentiables, pretenders and charlatans have tried, each one in his own mad turn, to unfurl the banner of morality in government. But all this mad scramble suspiciously reeked of grandstand opportunism and hypocrisy. Moreover, it was a shameless disregard of the admonition of the Great Writer of our future: That only the righteous themselves deserve to wave that banner.

Thankfully, Bro. Eddie chose not to be part of that scramble. He simply stood his lonely ground, and the great many looked to him as the rightful carrier of the banner to bring down immorality in our government.

Amid the turmoil over the land on the efforts to perpetuate Gloria Arroyo in power beyond 2010, one voice rang to define the issue and offer a rational way out of the turmoil. That was Bro. Eddie.

Amid the corruption that has been endemic in our system, one voice kept ringing loud and clear to denounce this satanic scourge on our government. That was Bro. Eddie.

Amid the overload and cacophony of voices that bombarded us with worn-out palliatives to our ailing economy, one man stood out and spoke in plain and understandable language. That was Bro. Eddie.

And amid the rent in our moral fabric that was further being torn to shreds by the unmitigated greed of the privileged few and the seething anger of the despondent many, one man has somehow struck a chord that resounds in everyone’s heart and inspires them to find their own personal epiphanies and discover the path to righteous existence. That was Bro. Eddie.

In that interfaith rally in Makati, Bro. Eddie declared that those currently in power shall not last long in the face of the determined effort of the righteous. He said that unless a moral president holds the reins of government, we cannot get out of the socio-political maelstrom that grips the country, where a sitting president who has lost credibility still insists to perpetuate herself in power while the people she is supposed to govern have had enough of her.

It is to the credit of Bro. Eddie’s moral suasion that when he denounces the government minions who had reveled in corruption far too long his voice is heard loud and clear and all over the land. And for once, many celebrated cases that have slept far too long in the chambers of the investigators seemed to move, and many were thankfully filed before the courts.

Bro. Eddie could never claim that he has a master’s degree in Economics, but he knows full well whereof he speaks in his diagnosis of what ails our economy. The twists and turns that have buffeted our economy, he says, were the function of corruption and the evil machinations of our administrators. And that their enlightenment would never come under the current circumstances, and only a return to the basics of decency, truthfulness and spirituality would bring us back to the righteous path.

Bro. Eddie tried, but failed honorably, to get to the presidency in 2004. The failure has not kept him from sulking in his tent to nurse his wounds. Hearing him all over again in 2008 denounce the immorality that pervades the current government, one is brought back to that rueful year, yearning for what might have been, had the presidency not been stolen, but given instead to who one who truly deserved it in accordance with the people’s mandate.

We look forward to 2009 and beyond, behind the valiant efforts of Bro. Eddie to somehow induce what is moral from each and every Filipino, from each and every institution of government, and from each and every functionary of that government.

And for this year, against all odds, we still devoutly hope our present power-wielders would allow themselves to be cloaked with the kind of righteous, passionate leadership that Bro. Eddie has sought to establish when he founded the Jesus is Lord Movement 30 years ago.

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