Erap

As of this writing, the decision of the court for Estrada on plunder case is guilty. He was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. But the verdict is no way the final curtain that closes the drama that lasted for six years. Our seventy-year old former president can still appeal to the Supreme Court for finality of his case whether he would stay in jail in Muntinlupa or be released and enjoy the freedom outside the confines of prison.

There is something to feel glad about it. There is something to feel hope in our judicial system. Once in a while we Filipinos need good news. This is one of them but it should never end here. This should only be the beginning to serve as a strong warning and deterrent for those who abuse their office and authority. If Erap is seen as a sacrificial goat, of course not blameless as he was, let him be for the sake of justice in the Philippines. Let us then wait to hear good news about cases of graft and corruption against the Marcoses, Hernani Perez, Gen. Carlos Garcia and “Jose Pidal.”

All this talk that the judgment is “politically motivated” as the accused himself said and “unfair” is pure nonsense. They have not read the whole text of the ruling. Although these justices are presidential appointees, beholden to a certain extent to the president, they have their own mind and independence on the matter long perfected in their exemplary legal careers.

Some are carried away by emotions. It is not appeal to reason but appeal to pity that they wanted their idol to be exonerated from the charges. Others call for pardon in lieu of his years of stay in Tanay. Regarding pardon or JDV’s dumb call for amnesty, the mention of these is too early and premature. Let the wheel of justice turn its due course. It is not reconciliation that they want. It is the postponement, the delay of national catharsis for renewal as it happened during the Aquino and Ramos administrations.

Wisdom can be found in the depiction of the eyes of Themis, the goddess of justice, being blindfolded. Big or small man, whatever is your station in life, the scales of justice will not favor you because of wealth, power and fame but on the basis only of truth. For those who clamored for pardon or even acquittal, think of a security guard on duty caught of sleeping on his post. Immediately, he was fired. Or consider a man caught of shoplifting a can of sardines for his starving child. Right away, he was put in prison.

In fairness to Erap, he believed in our judiciary and took his so-called gamble. He submitted to the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan and rejected offers by the administration for him to go abroad. Something that is admirable. If he had fled to the US or elsewhere, then the people might think that he was culpable of those crimes imputed on him. He did what a leader of his people should have done. That is to face the bar of justice as well as of history. Such statesmanlike deed is found in the real life story of Asiong Salonga.

On a personal note, when as college students we interviewed him regarding our thesis on EDSA II, he accommodated us graciously in his detention cell at the Veteran’s Memorial Medical Center. The Sandiganbayan did not grant our request but managed the interview nonetheless. But the greatest Erap joke that happened to me was to receive on that same day, pirated, yes pirated copy of his cd “Ama ng Masa” with his dedication.

[First published in People's Digest Newsweekly (Dagupan City) (September 11-17, 2007)]