In the light of that rather confusing ‘Alabang Boys’ Drug Pushing Controversy (if they were caught last September 19 how come that it’s only now that the ‘heat’ is being stepped-up?; is it because the High End Drug Pushing wasn’t such a Big Deal compared to the Big Time Bribing?), the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has, once again, come out AGAINST the suggested ‘SELECTIVE’ revival of the Death Penalty, proclaiming, in not so many words, that a strengthening of the Judicial System and a really strict Law Enforcement, are what our Country needs in order to cut Crime and Corruption to pieces! Quite a laudable, but not a very realistic suggestion, I daresay.
Strengthening the Judicial System cannot be done overnight! It will entail a COMPLETE OVERHAUL: from the Supreme Court down to the Municipal Trial Courts; AND a change in the Judges’ Attitudes where their PRINCIPLES will have to lord it over their ‘PRINCIPALS’ (the President of the Philippines and all Politicians concerned should no longer be allowed to have even a distant ‘influence’ on the Appointment of all Justices of the Supreme and Lower Courts)! Such an idyllic situation, however, just will not jibe with the ‘Pinoy’ ‘Quick Fix’ mentality, as, sadly revealed by all those other Department of Justice Drug Cases DROPPED due to ‘illegal arrests’ or ‘lack of evidence’ (as mentioned by Jarius Bondoc in his ‘Gotcha’ Column, 12 January 2009). Besides, where in God’s Creation can you see a PROSECUTOR working NOT to indict but to get a Drug Pusher off the hook?! Sosmaryosep!
Strict ENFORCEMENT of the Law is another ‘Quixotic’ ideal that, in this Country, has long been thrown into the ‘Realm of Dreams’, and only occasionally recalled in wordy debates bordering on pointless and time wasting childish filibustering! Indeed, how can we expect to have any rigorous Law Enforcement when, more often than not, it’s the Law-makers and Law-enforcers who are uncovered to be the LAW BREAKERS and Masterminds themselves! These guys seem to ‘love’ the Law so much they enjoy playing around with it in a ‘game’ more appropriately called: ‘Catch Me If You Can’!
That the administration of Justice and the enforcement of the Law have long been seriously ‘contaminated’ by virulent Corruption in our forlorn Country is such a disgraceful REALITY that cannot be helped. How can we expect our lowly ‘Punong Barangays’ not to indulge in Corruption when even the guys and gals at the Top of the Totem Pole have long been wallowing in Pelf? The temptation to join the ‘Easy Money Game’ is made all the more irresistible by the fact that getting caught and going to Jail because of Corruption (and even PLUNDER) is more of an EXCEPTION than the Rule in this ‘Rat Infested’ Country! As evidenced by that D.O.J. vs. P.D.E.A. (Phil. Drug Enforcement Agency) tussle, ‘rats’ will always have that sympathetic but rotten tendency to protect their fellow ‘rats’ (especially their ‘King Rat’), ‘Sosmaryosep’! The alleged 2 Big D.O.J. ‘CASE FIXING’ ‘Rats’, “Mike Muslim” and “Atty. Alex Tan”, have reportedly been known to be ‘doing their thing’ since June 2004, and you can just imagine how many MILLIONS they might’ve earned, not only for themselves, but also for their ‘Principals’! And the C.B.C.P. tells us to ‘Strengthen’ our Justice System and ‘Strictly’ enforce the Law? Give me a break!
What we really have here, my dear Bishops, is an unmitigated absence of Fear for the Law and the consequences attendant to breaking it! Of course from the Catholic Church’s Dogmatic point of view, the Taking of a Life, will always be considered a Mortal Sin, except, perhaps in those rare exceptions where Self-Defense can obviously be proven. But isn’t the execution of a convicted HEINOUS CRIME offender Sane Society’s own way of defending itself not only against the Convict himself but, more so, from ‘COPYCATS’ who might be encouraged by those Heinous Offenders who are able to avoid or get out of Jail just as easy as getting out of the RAIN?! Please don’t tell me that the Presidential Pardons of Convicted Big Time Plunderer and former President Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada and Convicted Cold Blooded DOUBLE Murderer ( while allegedly ‘under the influence’ of a banned substance), Claudio Teehankee, Jr., didn’t send all the wrong and ‘encouraging’ signals to all those ‘closet Corruptors and Plunderers’, Drug Pushers and Users, and Killers. ‘Road Rage’ Cold Blooded Murderers just might, all the more, be emboldened further should that convicted Killer of Nelson Maguan (who, reportedly, is ‘moving Heaven and Hell’), be surreptitiously granted a ‘Midnight Pardon’ by P.G.M.A.! Her self-appointment as ‘Drug Czar’ just might send ‘mixed signals’ to Pushers and Users alike that this Lady President might be doing this mostly for ‘COSMETIC’ purposes only, and they will just be ‘laying low’ until all the ‘heat’ generated by this ‘Alabang Boys’ Controversy ‘cools off’ and ‘Mike Muslim’ and ‘Atty. Alex Tan’ will be able to ‘RIDE AGAIN’ with all guns blazing!
I’m sure the C.B.C.P. is aware of the fact that DRUG PUSHING is a crime more heinous than Murder! It not only ‘kills’ Physically, Psychologically, and SPIRITUALLY a person, but also his or her WHOLE FAMILY! It ‘kills’ a person’s Drive, his Dreams for a better life, and helplessly renders him or her, a co-conspirator against Life and his or her own Family and Future! The utter ‘VIRULENCE’ of Drug Addiction just cannot be Quantified, especially now that it has joined forces with vituperative Corruption and metastasized towards almost all the Branches of Government and SEVERELY tainted its Judicial and Law Enforcement Branches and transformed their Cabinet Secretaries, State Prosecutors, and Agency Directors, into inutile Rolex-wearing ‘gold plated’ ‘lapdogs’ who have long been possibly ‘feeding’ on the ‘blood’ that these Drug Pushers have been ‘sucking’ out of their hopelessly addicted victims! Even the Highest Court of the Land is presently being ‘racked’ by moves to IMPEACH its Chief Magistrate! And you guys say it’s just a matter of ‘STRENGTHENING’ the Judicial System?! Come on, wake up!
How long will we have to wait for the whole System to realize the need to abide by the Law and, in the case of the duly elected or appointed Executors and Enforcers, to see to it that the Law is ABOVE everybody else in this Money-Oriented Land? The Global Financial Crunch will, all the more, bring home the point that Money, Money, and even more Money will have to be made, BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, in order to survive! Such a Global ‘Recession’ will really put everyone’s Principles and Integrity to an inescapable test, including, maybe even some of our good old overly politicized Bishops themselves!
In anxious anticipation of the 2010 National Elections and the Global Recession, we ‘malleable mortals’, must really beseech our ‘Pious’ President G.M.A. to really act along the lines of that long standing constitutionally mandated SEPARATION of Church and State. I believe that before we can prepare our Souls for Heaven, we should try to make Life reasonably ‘Livable’ on Earth first. This we can do by: 1) Bringing back the Death Penalty, thereby 2) Instilling REAL Fear in everyone, including, most especially all the potential Criminals, and most especially the Rich who think that they belong to an ‘Untouchable’ Class; and 3) Enforcing the Law and penalizing Law Makers and Enforcers ‘twice’ for every Law that they ‘break’ (e.g. if they are meted Life Imprisonment, this should be ‘upgraded’ to Death by Firing Squad!). If there was ONE thing good that the Marcos Dictatorship did throughout all those 20 years, to this blighted Land, it was the instilling of real bone-shaking and heart-throbbing DISCIPLINE! As it is, we have a cotton-hearted Lady and a group of senile guys who think that together they can STOP the Drug and Corruption menace by just threatening to put all offenders behind bars for Life! Hey! That’s been tried long, long, ago…and it just seems like NO ONE is afraid of ‘Life’ anymore!
