Finks Wanted

Boy, am I glad I'm not a judge. With the new scandal coming out about corruption in the midst of the judiciary, it's not going to be too comfortable, if one is a judge, to keep wearing those dark, drab robes. Not just because of the fashion challenge or the humidity, but due to the political climate we're enjoying right now.

Never mind that, as a member of the honorable judicial profession, you're squeaky clean and you (thus far) smell like fragrant roses. Considering the heat generated by the exposure of the massive screwing we've been royally receiving from that other branch called the legislature, people are liable to look suspiciously on anyone in the government, whatever department one is in. And with the leak coming out about Madame Arlene (sounds like a cheesy fortune teller to me) and her prowess at fixing court decisions, the spotlight is now cruelly fixed on the judiciary.

Call it a presumption of guilt, until proven innocent. Now that's not a healthy working environment.

Apparently, Madame Arlene has been seen hosting parties for this judge and that justice, buying drinks and meals for judge's conventions, and buying Hermes Birkin bags for the wives of judges. Oh, to be the wife of a judge and to enjoy a free Birkin. But really, dear judges. How cheap. You can be bought for the price of a skillfully repurposed reptile hide?

Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno has sounded the call: if you know of corrupt judges, now is the time to come forward. Her office is ready to listen, not just to rumors and gossip, but to real tattlers. With documented proof, preferably. Now this is an excellent and welcome development, and for sure, is going to turn up the heat underneath the robes.

Unfortunately, I have no personal stories of corruption to report. (No, it's not that I haven't seen a judge cute enough to corrupt. I'm sure there are plenty of that. Somewhere.)  Therefore I am useless for Chief Justice Sereno's purposes. But I do hope someone with the goods, complete with receipts from Hermes or maybe even photos of those cheap wives doing selfies with their Birkins, will come forward.

Any legitimate whistle blower, as far as I'm concerned, would be fantastic for the judiciary's future. Once those judges and justices who have been mining their positions for personal profit are rooted out, then we will be able to build a more stable and legitimate institution, one ordinary citizens can entrust with their grievances, never mind how powerful or connected their opponent is.

The posts vacated by the hoodlums can be given to those with far more stellar ethical principles and credentials (ahem), and with the ability to resist Hermes (I've always been more partial to Gucci.) And, is not averse to wearing black robes on a hot, humid day. (Count me out).

The next few months will be interesting. Given the current receptivity of the Filipino public to efforts to cleanse the system, there's a definite glamor to coming, not out, but forward. Even for no other reward than just doing the right thing. Previously, it was all about getting even, or a sore loser with an axe to grind. Those were our primary sources of information. But there's a refreshing change in the air, conducive to patriotism and civic duty.

If we milk this opportunity right, we might just get somewhere. The danger is, crackpots will also use this opportunity to forward their respective agendas, and the infuriated public will be misdirected towards the wrong targets. Litigants angling for a change of judge, or grounds for an appeal, could let smoke out about their present handling judge, carefully manage the fuel, and then watch him crash and burn. They could then avoid an adverse ruling or get a reversal. (Much like what we're seeing with the pork barrel controversy, with opportunists using selected facts to divert the attention to the president.)  See, even more perils for a sitting judge.

More than a Miss World winner, we need the right kind of informant. Not just any rat or stool pigeon. He or she has got to have the goods. Enough to prosecute the erring judges, and not just that carefully sliced and diced amount sufficient to tar innocent names without basis.

Otherwise, we risk endangering this institution where credibility plays such a big part in its legitimacy. And we wouldn't want that, would we? Not when we need them to convict the pork barrel queens and princesses.