The gorgon head of crime / The Supreme Court vote - HERE'S THE SCORE by Teodoro C. Benigno

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is now finding out the presidency is no cake-walk. After People Power II catapulted her to Malacañang, she sees largely the pits. And rears back like a frightened mare. Leering at her is the gorgon head of crime – ugly, revolting, vile. Kidnappings are on the rise, killings of the innocent, death by fraternity hazing, salvagings, top-of-the-line smuggling. A bureaucracy awash with corruption. Crime, Incorporated. The irony of it all is that the president has the military and the police as the twin bedrock of her government.

And now people are asking: Is GMA in control or is it the military? And if it is the military, when will the generals swoop?

And so it came to pass that last Sunday in Fort del Pilar, the president asked the graduating cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) to help her and the police in battling kidnappers, criminals, smugglers, narcotics lords et al. The president, of course, has sought to alleviate the critical situation by declaring a unilateral ceasefire with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and a month-long truce with the New People’s Army (NPA). Peace talks with the latter, through the National Democratic Front, start April 27.

This reverses ex-president Joseph Estrada’s policy of all-out war with insurgency, come what may. Fine. Excellent even.

But we are into another planet – the world of crime. And it comes at a time the economy is wrapped around a lamppost. And the record of the military and police in fighting crime is at best mediocre, often dismal and disappointing. Let’s take the case of Claudine ‘Mabel’ Feliciano. Just very recently, this young upper middle class girl was abducted, raped and killed by a berserk group of seemingly drug-crazed killers belonging to – yes, so-called "good families." Until today, the police have no clue as to what happened, and the NBI is just as much in the dark. This is our police?

All right, the key word is drugs. If indeed, the killers were drug-driven, where did they get the stuff? And why is it that until today, huge shipments of drugs have come and gone, blared by tri-media, and no big drug lord has been arrested? Many now say Estrada’s billions came from drugs. This is really hard to prove, but also hard to disbelieve. If there is widespread protection of narcotics lords, the logic arises that much of the protection is being assured by the police. And people in high, very high places. So where are we leading to?

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To where everybody is leading to – that only a president with fire in her belly, iron in her lungs, and the sword of Lorraine in her heart can really crack down on crime. But cracking down on crime means cracking down mainly on the police and military. And this is what Margaret Thatcher meant when she told me long ago we Filipinos could clean up our society only when we have cleaned up our police. Ex-police chief Gen. Panfilo Lacson, now Puwersa ng Masa senatorial candidate, has a lot to explain. For many of the crimes adduced happened during his watch, fingers are pointed at him. And he cannot simply say, "Show me the evidence."

Sir, we do not have the evidence. But you should have it. Or your successors and other assigns – we are precisely referring to new PNP chief Gen. Leandro Mendoza and new NBI chief Gen. Reynaldo Wycoco.

Do not tell me that five months after the disappearance and possible death of publicist and PR practitioner Bubby Dacer, you do not have the evidence. You have six or seven policemen under suspicion, all members of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), but you do not have the evidence? That’s crazy. That’s lousy police work. That’s lousy detective work on the part of the NBI. When will you have the solid evidence? When do you arrest the masterminds? Would you have the guts to arrest them?

And how about the Dec. 30 terrorist bombings in Metro Manila? Scores of innocent people were killed, scores more wounded. At the time, General Lacson declared he had "100 percent proof" the bombings were perpetrated by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Where’s the proof? On the contrary, the grapevine is rife with reports the terrorist bombings were the handiwork of rightwing ex-military fascists who engaged the services of Muslim (not MILF) mercenaries to cover up their traces.

The suspicion – which has spread far and wide–is that the PMA Mafia has all the clues as to what is really happening, not just clues but rockhard information. But they’re not talking. And they’re not talking because they are bound by vows (similar to that of omerta of the Sicilian Mafia) that underpin the culture of the military and police – the PMA’s Mistah Cult of obedience and secrecy. That might have worked 50 years ago when we had peaceful, largely law-abiding society, and we held our military generals and police officers in awe.

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But the Mistah Cult does not work anymore. Originally, it was a simple fraternity and fellowship ritual intended to weave the bonds of brotherhood among the officers of our military establishment. With the passing of the decades, and population increase from 15 to 75 million, with poverty stalking the nation from north to south, crime was bound to explode and it exploded with a vengeance. And sad to say, its shadows fell on our politicians as they did on our military and police brass.

Madame President, there is a cleansing to do, a purging to undertake. Rascals to kick out, crooks to prosecute.

The irony of the whole thing is that President Arroyo is pandering to the military and police like nobody’s business. Many say she is hostage to the brass. Look at the way she is treating Gen. Angelo Reyes, virtually blessing the ground he trods upon. And what did Reyes do to merit this presidential ablution? Nothing much really. The general as AFP chief of staff turned his back on Joseph Estrada after almost everybody did. For GMA, that was heroism. For civil society that stormed the EDSA Shrine by the hundreds of thousands, that was opportunism. Because they had already won the war against Erap Estrada who fled Malacañang like a sardine chased by a shark. Now General Reyes is secretary of national defense. Ye gods!

So how does GMA war on crime? She came to power largely because of her vaunted economic genius. Our economy is close to doing a tailspin because of an international economic slump hitting largely the US and Japan, our biggest export markets. The economy can wait. GMA has to get into the role of Elliot Ness. Can she? Will she? Isn’t she already disarmed the way she is, knee-high to the military and police brass who have the guns, who have the men, and who possibly have Little Miss Moppet in their pocket.

Hey, waiter, fix me vodka on the rocks, please.

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That was sad, the Supreme Court voting 8-6 against the registration of about 4.5 million new voters – the youth. The rationale, as was that of Comelec chairman Alfredo Benipayo – the "impossibility" of conducting the special registration for lack of time. Republic Act 8189 states it cannot be done 120 days before a regular election. The word "impossible" cholers me like no other word in the English language. I tell you.

Everybody said it was impossible to overthrow President Joseph Estrada. He was too entrenched, he had the military and the police, he had the politicians in the hollow of his hands, he had the system all wired up. Well? A few good men, mostly coming from media, did not think it was impossible. Even when perched precariously on the cliff, they fought. A man by the name of Luis "Chavit" Singson fought. Another man by the name of Jaime Cardinal Sin fought. The Church fought. A group of crusading congressmen and senators fought. Then the people fought.

What was impossible became possible. That, too, was the pattern that toppled the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Bring him down? Impossible. Washington was backing him up as well as the Philippine military and police. The whole political system was a garrison state. The generals lived it up, resided in mansions, enjoyed protection rackets, set up businesses. Yes, it really looked impossible. Until just one man, Ninoy Aquino, dreamed his impossible dream, and fought Marcos eyeball-to-eyeball. Eventually, the corrupt empire of Marcos collapsed and he and his family fled to Honolulu.

The Supreme Court vote was 8-6. Who were the eight? They were associate justices Arturo Buena, Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, Josue Bellosillo, Santiago Kapunan, Sabino de Leon, Vicente Mendoza and Jose Melo. Five or six of the eight, if I am not mistaken, were Estrada appointees or Estelito Mendoza protégés. Now, who were the six who voted for enlistment of the youth? They were Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Artemio Panganiban, Bernardo Pardo, Minerva Gonzaga-Reyes, Jose Vitug and Leonardo Quisumbing. If these six ruled it was possible, then the special registration was possible. Davide’s vote alone was worth the vote of six. And he had Art Panganiban with him.

Majority of the eight had the armpit smell of Mr. Estrada. Impossible.