“(I)s the Senator giving in to a persecution complex? Has he lost his bearings to the point that he sees enemies wherever he turns? Is this his guilt taking over his perceptions?”
by Ducky Paredes
Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan gives good advice to his “mistah” in PMA Class ’71 and, now, in the Senate, fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson, that to get his life back Ping will eventually have to yield to authorities to clear his name in connection with the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000.
Honasan, who has had his scrapes with the government, says of his comrade: “The Department of Justice cannot adjust the standards of justice because it’s the government. The bottom line is sooner or later, my classmate, my colleague, if he wants his day in court and to present his evidence, there’s no way he can do that without surfacing.”
Honasan sees no other way for Lacson to clear himself: “For the process to start moving, for better or for worse, he has to be present to face due process and have his day in court. The best recourse is for him to surface, but that is his judgment call.”
Instead, what Lacson seems to want is to be treated differently from other citizens who run afoul of the Law.
He condemned the Department of Justice (DoJ) for going all-out to send him to jail “even at the expense of justice itself.” Adds Lacson: “It is very unfortunate that the present DoJ and its prosecutors have become and continue to be tools for my persecution.”
While he said he respected the decision by Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina, the senator lambasted Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and State Prosecutor Peter Ong for “gloating as they did after learning of the said order.”
He sees the DOJ as an enemy: “It is becoming clear that they are only after ‘winning their case’ against me, even at the expense of justice itself.”
“To set the record straight, I have never asked the DoJ to unilaterally conduct a reinvestigation. Rather, I have likewise maintained that the court has the final say if such move shall be granted.”
Lacson says that what he wanted was for the justice department “to join and not oppose us in asking the court to have the matter reinvestigated taking into consideration new and compelling evidence.”
Lacson says that he should not be tried on the basis of the testimony of ex-police officer Cezar Mancao that he had ordered the murders. He maintains that Mancao “fabricated his earlier testimony that he overheard me order another subordinate officer to commit the murders which served as the sole basis for the finding of probable cause against me.
“I maintain that I am a victim of persecution because of my strong advocacy against graft and corruption during the past administration.”
But, hey, don’t we now have a new administration in place? Why does he seem to think that the new administration, headed by someone who was with him as an ally in the Senate, also wants to see him rot in jail? Or, is the Senator giving in to a persecution complex? Has he lost his bearings to the point that he sees enemies wherever he turns? Is this his guilt taking over his perceptions?
The only way that he can prove his innocence is to face the charges that he is facing and disproving them; thus, proving his innocence. Or, has he stopped believing that there is justice in this country? If that is what he is thinking today; then, it may well be a good thing that he is no longer writing laws as a legislator. Someone who does not believe in the system has no business writing laws for the rest of us to follow.
Clearly, this is one senator whose time as a legislator ended the day that he turned fugitive. To get back to where he was before he flew the coop, he should listen to Gringo Honasan who has been there and back and knows what he is talking about. Honasan was arrested, jailed and, like his fellow citizens, faced the charges against him. For Gringo, this turned out to be for the best. Certainly, what Honasan now has is better than life as a fugitive.
Of course, if one knows he is guilty, a fugitive’s life is preferable to a long jail term!
* * *
It now turns out that Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV together with other beneficiaries of President Aquino’s amnesty proclamation have to admit participation in the failed uprisings against the previous administration before they can avail of the amnesty. While there was no such condition in the President’s Proclamation No. 75, the application form to avail of the amnesty has that provision.
That should be easy enough. After all, if all that government needs is for your signature on the dotted line to effect an amnesty that frees you from any obligation about anything for which they will not hold you responsible, why not? This is simply procedural, as Trillanes’ lawyer admits.
What is harder to take is whet the congresswoman from the second district of Pampanga is now saying: “The granting of amnesty or pardon is truly a constructive action when it is motivated by a laudable objective, such as the reestablishment of national unity.
“But let us remember that it is also a singular action of executive generosity which should be dispensed with great caution, taking care always to exclude recidivists and offenders who remain unrepentant.”
Why is that hard to take? How many common criminals, with uncommon wealth, did GMA pardon during her reign? The murderers who killed in cold blood, whose victims included Maureen Hultman, Beebom and Cochise, Eldon Maguan and even some whose presidential pardons were already at the National Penitentiary (delivered by presidential messengers) even before the felon had arrived at Muntinglupa to be checked in.
That woman has no business talking about who deserve to be pardoned. In her case, those she knew and who she dealt with and those whose pardons served a political purpose were those she pardoned, not anyone else!
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hvp 12.26.10
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