A season of acquittals

As a reflection of the times, the current joke comes in the form of a question: “Who’s the latest acquittal?”

This is a bitter barb to swallow considering we are supposed to be trekking the straight and narrow path of reform. Unfortunately even that line has become the subject of ridicule as people quote the famous line: “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” and adding “Pero mas mahirap yung walang alam”.

While we can’t pin the blame on one single entity, it seems that fate and our justice system have conspired to bring us a season of acquittals. In some cases the acquittal is well deserved and in others, they are plain and simply suspicious, if not fraudulent.

As we suspected and expected, the executive department was not apprised of the plea bargain agreement entered into by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Ombudsman concerning the case of Ret. Major General Carlos Garcia.

So what is worse; that deals are being made without permission or that the people in this administration are the last to know and can’t do anything about the misdeals?

In the case of the secretary of Justice and special lawyers of the OSP, it is VERY disturbing to note that there seems to be no deference or respect given to the Secretary of Justice Leila De Lima on the part of OSP people. Judging from their public pronouncements you get the impression that the DOJ and the OSP are combatants and litigants on opposing sides of the issue.

To top it all, I wonder why it is easier for Malacañang officials to blame and bash the Office of the Ombudsman before formally seeking a conference on the matter. So what if you are on opposing sides of the political landscape, we can all at least try to be civil and ask questions first, then shoot later.

It is too easy and convenient a tool to cop out by passing the buck or the blame on Merceditas Gutierrez without first meeting with her and finding out if in fact she offered the plea bargain.

At the rate they are going the people in this administration especially those holding office in Malacanang are too quick to say it’s not their fault, go blame someone, or sorry but we can’t do anything about it.

At the very least, we should all be told what the plea bargain is because it is a matter of “Public Interest” and not just some newsworthy item. The OSP and their special lawyers should stop waving the flag of sub judice because for all intents and purposes, they already made a deal and the Sandiganbayan accepted it. There is nothing left to influence because the Ombudsman and the OSP left everybody out of the equation.

Why are we getting only half of the P300 million? And since an agreement has already been entered into, is the retired general also going to spend half the number of years he would have served if the plunder case went through?

Will that include the six years he spent at the PNP detention center, considering the center is not the regular jail and life for the accused was nowhere close to what life would have been at the Quezon City jail.

Without a doubt, the Ombudsman, the OSP and the accused are all thankful that the deal was exposed this late in the year and on Christmas week. However their holiday cheers will be short lived and next year promises to be a tempest as lawyers and media people have vowed to carry the “fight” into the New Year.

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The more observant individuals have been taking mental notes of how people are celebrating Christmas this year and have noticed that many gifts this year are smaller in size, a lot of fruits are making their way to homes and there may be more people celebrating Christmas out of town than did last year.

On a person-to-person basis, the idea of sending fruits may look like a good and practical idea, but try to imagine getting three to four baskets of fruits at a time. You can only eat so much fruits and soon, all the stuff gets passed on or thrown out into the compost pit.

The fruit in season seems to be “chico”, and after consuming a whole tray of it, people suspected me of drinking booze early in the day! I’m not complaining about the gifts, but it just goes to show that we really have to think twice.

As for going out of town, local tourism will certainly benefit considering it’s almost next to impossible to get bookings at major local destinations. One good thing about being on a road trip is that it gets you out of Metro Manila traffic and it does take your mind away from the social pressures and expectations of gift giving.

What I still can’t get over is the fact that people seem to have forgotten that it was a tough and difficult year for many. We did have a global financial crisis remember? Yet here we all are, falling into the “compulsory state of giving” just because it’s Christmas.

Out of respect for those unemployed or financially constrained, the Beltrans decreed that this year ONLY CHILDREN will get gifts. We can all look forward to the food, the reunions and hopefully come up with plans and ideas for a better New Year but until then Christmas will be FOR THE CHILDREN.