Lady justice should be blindfolded

DUMAGUETE CITY: It’s that time of the year when I drop everything I’m doing in the office (except writing my columns) and put on my riding gear to ride to Dakak, Zamboanga del Norte (Zanorte) for the 20th annual convention of the Federation of Motorcycle Clubs in the Philippines. Last year’s Big Bike Convention was held in Bacolod City in time for the 50th anniversary of the Thunderbugs Motorcycle Club in Bacolod City. So next year will be the turn of the Luzon Federation to host the motorcycle convention, which I would like to believe is fast becoming a major tourism drawer in Asia.

One of the limitations in riding to Zanorte is that we in Cebu have to take a boat ride to join the convention. So our group, the EasyRiders decided to ride the 130 kilometers from Cebu City to Santander and cross to Dumaguete City for an overnight stay and a great dinner the take the ferry to Dapitan on Friday. The host for this event is Rep. Bullet Jalosjos. So far the ride to Dumaguete was uneventful…but it was a great ride. See you in Dakak… it’s going to be my first time there,

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There are two major breaking news stories that happened in this country. First was the signing of the so-called Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) by President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) last week, but unfortunately after legal luminaries went through this document, many of them realized that making this Bangsamoro “Substate” within the confines of the 1987 Cory Constitution is basically unconstitutional. So the big question is, will this peace pact bring about the Balkanization of the Philippines? What next? Will we see a Free Visayas Movement sprouting at the heels of this agreement that gives away parts of the Philippines to an ethnic group? Why not?

No less than Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said that this was unconstitutional. Indeed, the word “Bangsamoro” means Moroland. So if this agreement was declared unconstitutional during the time of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, I can’t see any reason why it should be constitutional at this time. Above all, this is one peace pact where the armed MILF hasn’t surrendered their high-powered firearms. So the whole thing must be a joke!

What marred the signing of this peace deal was that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) case about a US Senator selling high-powered firearms from the MILF… something that the Aquino Regime promised to investigate, which is why I haven’t written any comments on this yet. As expected, the MILF is already washing their hands on this FBI report. Come on, since when did guilty parties openly admit to crime? Abangan!

The other big breaking news happened this week when finally after six long months, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales approved the recommendation of the Special Panel to indict the three Senators: Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE), Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Bong Revilla Jr. as the alleged masterminds of the P10 billion pork barrel scam with Janet Lim Napoles. So the cliff-hanging question everyone is waiting for is whether the Sandiganbayan would issue an arrest warrant against these Senators.

Meanwhile I agree with the complaints of the three Senators who bewailed the Ombudsman for singling them out. Indeed, there are many members of Congress who were tagged in this Pork Barrel scam, why isn’t the Ombudsman also filing cases against these people? Because some of them belong to the Liberal Party? My understanding about Lady Justice is one who is blindfolded… alas the Ombudsman apparently is not blindfolded.

Meanwhile we eagerly await the day when the Sandiganbayan would issue warrants of arrest against these Senators and Congressmen…not because we believe that they are guilty… but rather because supposedly in this country…we are still a nation of laws… and no one is supposedly exempted from the law. But that was what we were taught during my days in Law school… or has this legal doctrine been changed under the Aquino Regime?

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The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) is requesting submissions of nominations for the 6th RAFI Triennial Awards until May 31, 2014. This call has been extended from December 15,2013. The reason why this submission was extended was due to the twin disasters, the Oct. 15th earthquake that struck Bohol and Cebu and the Nov. 8th Super Typhoon “Yolanda” where most people, especially non-government organizations (NGO) responded to help our beleaguered brethren. RAFI’s Triennial Awards seeks to nominate and award exemplary individuals and organizations working in the Visayas and Mindanao because RAFI wants to recognize their selfless efforts and in so doing, they can be true examples of people helping other people. You can get your nomination forms through the RAFI website http://rafi.org.ph/event/nomination-form.

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