EDITORIAL — No role models

When the midterm elections are over, the new set of lawmakers must work with poll officials to tighten the rules on detainees running for public office. Romeo Jalosjos campaigned behind bars and was re-elected to Congress while appealing his conviction for raping an 11-year-old girl. A final conviction makes Jalosjos eligible for presidential clemency. If President Arroyo grants him absolute pardon, he can seek public office again, like other former convicts who were elected to Congress in recent years.

It is still unclear whether someone who was convicted and served out his sentence in another country, like former Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez, can also seek elective office upon his return to the Philippines. But it is clear that someone being held for a non-bailable offense, such as Gregorio Honasan and Antonio Trillanes, can seek election to high office. Trillanes, dropped from the military’s rolls after he filed his candidacy for the Senate, is facing court-martial for leading a one-day mutiny in Makati in 2003.

Entering politics is better than attempting to overthrow the government. But there are enough scoundrels in Philippine politics without jailbirds and former convicts throwing their hats into the ring. Everyone deserves a second chance, but it doesn’t have to be in public service. Otherwise, what message does this send to the public? When members of the bureaucracy are dismissed from the service for corruption and other serious offenses, they are permanently barred from holding public office. Why shouldn’t this apply to public officials convicted of offenses such as rape or murder?

For now there are no laws prohibiting convicts and people on trial for criminal offenses from seeking elective office. The slow pace of justice is also partly to blame for this. Jinggoy Estrada, on trial for an offense that could earn him a life sentence, has already served three years as a senator. The next Congress should lay down clear guidelines on these cases. Legislators should serve as role models for respecting the law.