EDITORIAL - Congressional lynching

On Jan. 27, Angelo Reyes appeared before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, which was conducting an inquiry supposedly in aid of legislation in connection with a plea deal being sought by retired military comptroller Carlos Garcia. Reyes was invited not as a witness or an accused, but as a resource person.

In the course of the session, Reyes found himself publicly accused of massive corruption. He was ridiculed and rudely grilled particularly by two senators who, because there was every reason to believe they had an ax to grind against him, should have inhibited themselves or at least turned over to colleagues their questions for Reyes. Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV glowered at their “resource person.” Reyes was informed that he was a civilian with no right to answer the serious allegations being made against him live on national television. Trillanes, a former military mutineer, sneered at the former AFP and defense chief that he had no reputation to speak of or protect. The committee chairman, Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, either lost control of the proceedings or relished the public humiliation of his panel’s invited guest.

Two weeks later, Reyes is lying in state, dead by his own hand, his reputation and honor in tatters. There are those who say that he brought his doom upon himself, and in fact Reyes failed to make a spirited defense of his honor when he was finally allowed to directly question his accuser, retired military budget officer George Rabusa.

The nation deserves to know the truth about the extent of corruption in the AFP, so that remedial measures can be implemented to end it. But everyone is entitled to due process and presumed innocent unless solid evidence proves otherwise.

Reyes is not the first “resource person” to be insulted by lawmakers. Government officials defending their budgets are routinely subjected to the equivalent of a congressional hazing, often at the hands of lawmakers who enjoy displaying their intellectual inferiority or are notorious for venality. In the halls of Congress, there are lawmakers who behave as if they were God, except God surely does not believe anyone should grovel in His presence.

One thing that must result from Reyes’ death is an end to such congressional lynching. Congress is not a court of justice but the legislative arm of government. It’s possible to unearth corruption with civility and respect for everyone’s rights. Lawmakers who were incapable of this helped pull the trigger that ended Reyes’ torment.