Justice triumphs

The controversy spawned by the continued incarceration of two men who were declared innocent by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court may have finally come to an end.

Last week, the SC re-affirmed its first resolution backing the CA move and dismissed with clear finality the murder charges against Luisito Gonzalez — grandson of the late President Elpidio Quirino, and his friend Antonio Buenaflor.

It will be recalled that there was an uproar following a move by Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina to keep Gonzalez and Buenaflor in jail despite the fact that the two have already been acquitted by the CA and SC of the charges in connection with the death of Federico Delgado.

Bunyi-Medina’s move raised two questions: one, can a trial court judge ignore the decision of two higher courts and simply impose her will on the accused; and, two, can people who have already been acquitted by two superior courts be kept in jail and continue to be deprived of their freedom?

The controversy has thrust Bunyi-Medina into the limelight following the major confusion over the logic of her move.

Days before the SC’s second dismissal of the murder charges, there appeared to be an apparent PR attempt to dampen the public indignation over her move. The PR strategy was to question the wisdom of the CA decision junking the charges against Gonzalez and Buenaflor.

But there were major defects in this approach. The PR strategy could have succeeded only if the CA can be portrayed as inept and incompetent. But it so happened that the ponente of the CA resolution junking the charges against Gonzalez and Buenaflor was a feisty CA associate justice by the name of Remedios Salazar-Fernando. No PR campaign can be good enough to portray Salazar-Fernando as inept and incompetent.

Justice Salazar-Fernando happens to have a formidable track record both in the executive and judicial branches of government. She first came to national prominence as the feared chair of the quasi-judicial Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board whom even bus operators dared not collide with. She then became a member of the Commission on Elections, a stint which further cemented her image as a no-nonsense public servant. Like the late Haydee Yorac, her reputation is sterling.

Before she joined these national agencies, Salazar-Fernando spent many years as a judge in several municipal trial courts in Pampanga.

Yes, this is the CA associate justice from whose pen flowed the first superior court resolution which rejected the credibility of the Annaliza Pesico testimony and subsequently ordered the charges against Gonzalez and Buenaflor quashed and dismissed.

Last Tuesday, Gonzalez and Buenaflor were sent home and were free at last, savouring the freedom that rightfully belong to men absolved by two superior courts. They spent more than 400 days in jail for a crime two superior courts said they could not have committed.

The two had to remain in jail for an additional three days after the SC acquitted them with finality since they had to wait for Judge Bunyi-Medina to finally order their release.

We join the rest of the nation in praying that the misfortune that befell the grandson of a Philippine President does not happen to an ordinary Filipino. Innocent men deserve to be free. Justice has triumphed for Louie Gonzalez. It may be more difficult for the ordinary Filipino.

An untapped solution

The importance of getting the Laiban Dam project started as soon as possible cannot be overemphasized.

By 2015, Metro Manila will need about 5,000 million liters of water per day (mld), which means that we will be short by about 1,800 mld since Angat Dam which is the only source of water for the metropolis can only supply 3,800 mld.

In a recent article as well as a letter to MWSS administrator Jose Allado, former President Ramos warned against an impending water crisis and the importance of the Laiban Dam project as Metro Manila’s long-term potable water resource.

He has called on President Arroyo, the Cabinet, and concerned agencies to harmonize inter-governmental differences and investor concerns over the Laiban Dam issues as any liter of fresh water that escapes or any day wasted in intramural bickering may mean more agony on the part of many Filipinos later on.

It could take six or seven years for San Miguel Bulk Water Company to undertake the project. The MWSS board has to act with urgency and approve SMBWCI’s unsolicited proposal as soon as possible because we cannot afford to waste any more time.

In fact, the Laiban Dam project, had it been started much earlier, could have provided a huge catch basin for most of the huge amounts of water dumped by Ondoy. After all, the idea of Laiban Dam as the next water source for Metro Manila is not new. The government could have undertaken it six years ago, and the devastation wrought by typhoon Ondoy on the lives and properties of Filipinos could have been avoided.

The floodwaters that inundated Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon spawned by Ondoy came from the Sierra Madre mountains. This was proven by the brownish murky floodwater which carried a lot of soil washed away by the heavy rainfall at the time. The floodwater and mud came from the Sierra Madre mountain and the bald mountains and hills in the Quezon-Laguna-Rizal areas whose run-off waters could have been easily directed to the Laiban Dam site to prevent all the flooding, as President Ramos pointed out.

It’s never too late though. A catastrophe of that magnitude could be avoided in the future. The MWSS has said that it will pursue the Laiban Dam and that its proponent SMBWCI is pushing through with the project. The unsolicited proposal of SMBWCI is still being evaluated by an inter-agency committee. The recommendation of the evaluation committee will then be submitted to the MWSS sometime this month.

Let us commend the foresight, determination and commitment of MWSS and SMBWCI in pursuing the project to avert a water supply crisis by 2015 in Metro Manila and to provide a strategic solution to the problem of flooding in Metro Manila, amidst baseless attacks and criticisms by detractors. 

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