Disgrace on Fifth Avenue

A friend asked me yesterday why I was defending Panfilo Lacson. I replied that I wasn’t defending Lacson, I was defending "justice."

"What happens if Intelligence Chief Col. Victor Corpus starts accusing YOU," I asked, "and splashes his accusations and insinuations all over the media? When he says he has ‘proof’ and ‘evidence’ against you, what is your defense? Wouldn’t you cry out: If you have evidence, why don’t we take it to court?"

Fair is fair. Lacson may be the devil incarnate. But those who claim to "know" he is the devil must, in the end, have to prove that his breath comes from hell, his tracks are those of the cloven hoof, and that his acts have the malevolence of Satan. Trial by publicity is an evil act.

A group of terrified women were hanged in Salem because distinguished elders and townsfolk accused them of being "witches." Were they?

The late, great Senator Claro M. Recto said it so eloquently in a Constitution Day address, and I hope I quote him accurately from faulty memory. He declared in that memorable speech that "we must all be vigilant and stand to our arms" in the defense of the law. Let us not deny to those we hate or regard as our enemies the protection of the Constitution and our laws; for these are the same laws we may need tomorrow for our own protection.

Again, I cannot quote Don Claro with more precision, since I have misplaced my copy of that inspired and perceptive speech. But his message was seared in my brain, and I remember it vividly now.

Victor Corpus, like Oliver Cromwell of England, may have all the righteousness and good intentions to fight evil and right wrong. But just as Cromwell and his army of Roundheads, those merciless Puritans, hanged a king and massacred scores of thousands "in the Name of God" (including the Catholic Irish), he has acquired too much "power" for the peace of mind of anyone and the welfare of a nation, too quick to expect the worst of others and sometimes too susceptible to gossip and slanderous accusations. Who will this powerful Corpus attack next?

During the French Revolution, when the thirsty guillotine separated head from body of many victims to the approving roar of the crowd, a king and queen, and the nobility, were hooted to their deaths as they were humiliatingly rolled to their doom on the tumbrils. Next, many others "accused" by vigilant "citizens" and "people’s committees" of treason, or being pro-royalty, or anti-Revolution were sent to the chop. Finally, even the original leaders of the Revolution, like Maximilien Robespierre were "condemned", and decapitated by the same guillotine. Even the French who glorify their Revolution had grown sick and tired of the carnage, and called that period "The Terror."

If Corpus’ brooding, earnest face on television, pointing an accusing finger doesn’t terrify you, it should. For in his runaway J’accuse he’s now tarring a lot of people without mentioning names – and without going to court to prove his accusations.

* * *

No doubt there are corrupt judges or "hoodlums in robes" in our courts. That’s common knowledge. There are scalawags, from "fixers" to influence peddlers and extortionists, afflicting our justice system.

However, the "shotgun" blast of ISAFP Chief Corpus against the entire judiciary, which he aired on radio and television the other day, was uncalled for. Col. Corpus sneered that he is not inclined to go to court to file charges – because some judges, even justices, he did not identify are corrupt – against those he accuses of being protectors of drug lords. This is downright irresponsible and a libel against our whole justice system, from the Supreme Court down to the trial courts. What if Corpus had alleged that the entire Army was corrupt? He might have been handcuffed by his irate peers, stood up against a wall, and shot at sunrise. Why bother, after all, with a "court martial" if the armed forces were alleged to be "corrupt"?

That’s the example many would give in parallel.

Corpus does not cite names. He does not identify particular judges and justices who, as he claims, are the crooked protectors of the drug lords. If he has any evidence, outside of his own boca grande, against any member of the Bench, by all means he should charge that judge, or justice (or judges and justices) before the Supreme Court or the Office of the Court Administrator.

Every officer – like Col. Corpus – who dons uniform and takes up gun swears, first and foremost, loyalty to the Constitution and fealty to our Philippine Republic. Under our Constitution and system of government, it is the judges who are mandated to resolve justifiable matters and controversies, not television talk show hosts, radio commentators, or columnists like us. In fact, those who feel aggrieved by the conduct of judges who display clear bias or prejudice against litigants can demand that the judges concerned be "recused" or inhibit themselves.

By his scattergun attack against the judiciary, where he mentions no specific names, Corpus has mightily helped to erode faith and confidence in our Republic’s "rule of law." (Indeed, one might ask, is his reluctance to go to court an indication that he is merely bluffing?) Once the people’s confidence in the rule of law ever collapses, what will result in our streets will be anarchy.

Perhaps the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), through its president Arthur Lim and the IBP national committee, ought to challenge Corpus to put up or shut up by filing a "petition for contempt" with the Supreme Court. Surely, the High Tribunal will accept the case.

* * *

Now our disgrace is complete. According to a TV report yesterday, the Philippine Center building on the most famous main street in the world, Fifth Avenue in New York City, has been "condemned" by the New York City commission as unsafe, badly maintained, and a menace to passers-by in the vicinity! Since a million or so pedestrians, from diplomats to tourists, not just natives of the Big Apple, walk by that building daily, noting the Philippine Flag competing on the same boulevard with "Old Glory" itself and the banners of other important nations, the state of disrepair and dinginess of that edifice is as bad publicity for us, or even worse than, the depredations of the Abu Sayyaf.

My heart used to quicken with pride in the old days whenever I walked down Fifth Avenue, New York’s fabled golden mile, and saw our flag snapping proudly in the breeze. Here was the "outpost", I said to myself, of our nation in the heart of a bustling metropolis dubbed by many as "The Capital of the World."

Everytime I visited New York, I would drop by that building, beginning to note with dismay its increasing untidiness, especially in the gloomy ground floor reception area. Remember, this is the building which houses the Philippine Consulate General, the Philippine National Bank, and other major agencies. To have permitted it to fall to wrack and ruin is disgusting. I hang my head in shame.

* * *

I’ve often wondered in recent years why this important building was so neglected. (They even tried to sell it once, in a foiled fast-break operation, to a company of developers.)

Didn’t the hordes of Senators and Congressmen who visit New York (meaning Broadway, Saks Fifth, and Bloomies) year after year notice our Philippine building was falling apart and becoming a Fourth World shanty? Then it struck me. Perhaps many of the visiting big shots and politicians never go calling on the Consul General – they summon him and his staff to wait on them hand and foot in their hotels. No wonder none of our touring solons thought of "appropriating" any funds to repair and maintain that crumbling wreck of an installation. Now the worst has happened. It’s been "condemned."

During his time, our Ambassador to the United Nations Philip Mabilangan (who retired a few months ago after a distinguished career as Ambassador to Beijing and Paris, among other postings), kept his own premises spick and span. The UN Embassy residence where he lived in New York was renovated and tastefully decorated by Mabilangan and his wife, Ada Ledesma. They spent their own money, although they’re not rich, to provide a place where they could receive and entertain UN envoys, diplomats, and foreign friends and dignitaries, with grace and dignity.

I’m sorry Mabilangan never realized his dream of becoming our Ambassador to the United States – he would have done an excellent job in Washington DC, given his experience and his contacts. It was all but given to him by former President Estrada, but at the very last minute, it was awarded to former Senate President Ernie Maceda. In our Philippine Merry-Go-Round, I guess, the politicians always win.

This time, I’m calling on our politicians to stop infighting and intriguing, and vote an emergency budget to repair and refurbish our tottering Philippine Center. Why call for tourists to visit our shores? When a prospective tourist goes to our Fifth Avenue building to apply for a visa, and spots its tatty and dirty condition, he’ll make a U-turn and decide to go to someplace more "modern" – like Africa.

* * *

THE ROVING EYE . . . How are we going to hold an "automated" and clean Presidential election in 2004? We have TWO Commissions on Election, the way things are gong, one run by Comelec Chairman Alfredo Benipayo, and the other by an "en banc" committee of four headed by Commissioner Luzviminda Tancangco. When I wrote in this corner that Commissioner Tancangco had no business going to Mindanao to take part in the Comelec handling of the elections on the expansion of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and that Benipayo had told her it should be handed by the Commissioner assigned to the task, veteran Commissioner Rex Borra, Madam Tancangco angrily shot back on radio and TV that she had every right to be there because, she boomed, she is the "Commissioner in charge of Region IX." Wow! As for Chairman Benipayo, whom she apparently scorns, she snapped that he is only a "member" of the "en banc" committee. Sanamagan: the lady has unilaterally downgraded Benipayo from Chairman to committee member. Indeed, Tancangco’s faction, all of them appointed by former President Estrada, outnumbers Chairman Benipayo (a former justice and Court Administrator) and two other commissioners, Borra and Florentino Tuazon, Jr., appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Who’s the "chairman," then, of this vital poll body? Tancangco’s Gang of Four, or poor, harassed Benipayo who’s courageous, hardworking, and a man of proven integrity? Unless this is resolved, how can we have credible elections? Tancangco’s supporters and collaborators in the Comelec are Commissioners Ralph Lantion, a former Manila RTC Judge (I recall he was the judge who ruled in favor of Mark Jimenez), Rufino Javier, a former three-term Pasig congressman (buddy-buddy, by the way, with Quezon Rep. Danny Suarez), and Mehol Sadain. I wonder how the ballots of ARMM will be collected, tabulated and promulgated in an orderly manner, given the Moro rebellion coupled with the "rebellion" in the Comelec. No wonder we’re such a topsy-turvy country. But we soldier on . . . President GMA shouldn’t have urged Mindanao’s and Palawan’s voters to give "Muslim self-rule a chance." This was a divisive statement, pressed on her, I’m certain, by her peacenik advisers from Pangkat FVR to the Davao appeasement circle. What we must seek is the governing by Filipinos of Filipinos. Why should Muslims be under the rule of Muslims, and Christians only under the rule of Christians? Do we have two Republics, split along religious lines? What happens to Lumads and other tribes who are neither Christian or Muslim? Or the Buddhists, animists, and Confucianists? The entire idea of ARMM was screwy to begin with, an Islamic enclave within a Republic supposed to be secular, welcoming and defending all faiths. I’m positive many Moro citizens in the four ARMM provinces would like to get out, but that’s another story. They’re stuck in there . . . Our Deep Throat from Zamboanga City just rang me up. As of 8 p.m., 44,000 had voted "NO" to joining ARMM, and only 783 had voted "YES." The same trend is developing even in Isabela, the capital of Basilan. What will GMA have to say if Mindanao says, "NO"?