Treason: A crime greater than corruption

The Supreme Court marathon hearing on Romulo Neri’s petition has raised thought-provoking questions, specifically on why taking the witness stand in the Senate hearings would jeopardize diplomatic relations with China, and undermine the country’s military security. Tough questions from Chief Justice Reynato Puno have given rise to speculations that the Chinese loans involved a compromise deal regarding the highly-disputed Spratly Islands.

It can be recalled that the Philippines signed an agreement with China in 2004 for the joint exploration of the Spratlys in search of oil and gas – a move which greatly upset the other claimants particularly Vietnam because it strengthened Chinese claims while it undermined the other nations’ claims such as Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Brunei.

Conspiracy theorists have pointed out in the past that the 2004 agreement was an alleged act of bribery made by the Chinese government for us to drop our claim on the Spratly Islands, where they gave generous official development assistance or ODA for government projects by as much as $10 billion until 2010. These loans were given with very lax requirements for biddings, documentation and other procedures that were necessary checks and balances against corruption, giving rise to suspicions that under-the-table deals happened. These allegations must be thoroughly checked, and if they indeed happened, then this is an act of treason – selling out the country and undermining our patrimony and sovereignty as a nation.

Which reminds us of Sabah, that part of Borneo which the Philippines can lay a historical claim to given the fact that it is part of the Sultanate of Sulu and to this day, the Malaysians still pay rent to the Sultan’s heirs. If any deal is to be made, they have to be done with transparency and with the full knowledge of Filipinos, not only the heirs and other claimants involved. Any way you look at it, treason is a crime worse than corruption. During the Japanese occupation, betrayal by traitors caused the death of many Filipinos. To this day, such acts of treason during the Second World War are still contentious issues and are used to inflict insult on certain ethnic groups.

The Spratlys have long been the source of tension not only between the claimants and the ASEAN region, but is also an issue that concerns the United States. This tiny group of islands is one of the most productive areas for fishing, and it also holds one of the largest oil reserves in the world. But other than that, the Spratlys is located in a region which is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. And if China takes control of the disputed islands, then it can potentially choke transport and navigation – something which the United States most certainly will not allow.

If indeed the ZTE and other Chinese-funded government projects involved under-the-table deals, undermining our sovereignty and imperiling our patrimony, then checking out these allegations should be made a priority. Perhaps the Senate can look at the big picture instead of focusing on piecemeal investigations, and not depend entirely on so-called “heroes” and questionable characters and witnesses to provide them with the “truth.” There could be something bigger here other than the simple “truth.”

What is important at this point is to find out if indeed, the crime of treason was committed, and by whom. We must not work from supposition and conjecture, jumping to conclusions by mere dint of circumstances. There has to be incontrovertible proof, and it can only be done through the legal process. 

At the end of the day, these allegations should be brought to the Supreme Court for final judgment.  We’re lucky the SC, in particular Chief Justice Reynato Puno has credibility and enjoys a very high trust rating by Filipinos. He has an impeccable record of coming out with landmark decisions in his long career as an officer of the court. With Justice Puno at the helm, all of us have some hope that we have a court of last resort which can resolve major issues peacefully, without us always having to go to the streets every time accusations are made.

There are many Judases in this country, willing to commit the crime of treason for just a few pieces of silver. Most of them have gone scot-free. Worse than corruption, treason is a bigger crime because it betrays the people and undermines our sovereignty as a nation – with consequences far greater than we could ever imagine.

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