Honasan safer in hands of the law

Persons criminally charged in court, they say, should be presumed innocent till proven guilty. In our case, we don’t presume they are guilty or innocent. We simply wait for the judgment of the court.

Now, there is the case of former Senator Gregorio Honasan. Government authorities have not been able to find him in order to enforce an arrest warrant that has been issued against him. Some people have called on him to surrender. At the same time, some distinguished men in government have advised him not to do so.

The government is coming out with posters to inform the whole nation that: first, Honasan is wanted; second, that there is a P5 million reward money for any person who can furnish the information that could lead to his arrest. Five million pesos is a lot of money. Many bounty hunters who may have an inkling as to where Honasan would hide would go all out to verify his present whereabouts.

We believe that Honasan, being a former Army Colonel and Senator, should be a model for comportment. If he is not guilty of charges leveled against him, he should welcome the opportunity to establish his innocence in court. Remember, he doesn’t even have to prove his innocence; they have to prove his guilt. It is not good if he waits for the Honasan-wanted posters to be displayed in our streets. And bounty hunters may always claim that he resisted arrest so they had to shoot him in order to arrest him. We believe in the rule of law. And we are thinking of what is good for Honasan. He is a too-familiar figure to successfully remain in hiding. And the P5 million bounty would make even some of his alleged friends betray him. His goal is to get a fair hearing, not to avoid a hearing.

In the past, Honasan was accused of being responsible for a series of coup attempts against the Aquino administration. Now, he is being charged of inspiring the Oakwood mutiny way back in 2003 and of distributing pamphlets, a National Recovery Program that some claim is nothing but a plan to remove President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo by force.

The worst thing that can happen is if bounty hunters shoot down Honasan in their effort to get the P5 million reward. We don’t want to see such a thing happen. So we beg Gringo Honasan to surrender and face the charges that have been presented against him. As it is, there are more and more charges being leveled against him simply because he went into hiding. Now, for instance, there is a report that he ran away with P100 million of coup money "donated" by his usual financiers. Two senators – Juan Ponce Enrile and Panfilo Lacson – have reportedly advised him to resist arrest. As they say, the plot thickens.