Dictatorial Duterte and the Misrule of Law

 

DICTATORIAL DUTERTE AND THE MISRULE OF LAW

THE PRESIDENT IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW

By: Solita Collas-Monsod - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:10 AM August 04, 2018

…the President’s firing of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang has gotten in the way… I must express outrage at this latest abuse of presidential power.

Mr. Duterte must be reminded again (as former senator Rene Saguisag reminded him earlier) that he is not a king or an absolute monarch, but a “mere” president. Furthermore, government officials in all branches and positions must be reminded of this as well, since many seem to take the President’s pronouncements as law. For good measure, let’s include the general citizenry in this. We, too, are prone to quake in our boots at the thought of displeasing him. Remind, remind: He is the servant of the People. He is NOT above the law.

Why do we all need reminding? Take the case of Carandang who (if the news reports are right) was not only dismissed from office, but whose retirement benefits were forfeited. Why? Because his “transgressions… constitute graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust, which gravely affects his fitness to remain in public office.”

Let’s take that one by one. First, Carandang’s dismissal. You will remember that the President suspended Carandang for 90 days earlier this year. But  Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales refused to implement his order, citing a Supreme Court decision declaring unconstitutional the provision in the Ombudsman Act that gave the president disciplinary powers over the Ombudsman’s deputies.

Clearly, our dear Conchita Carpio Morales, may her tribe increase, does not need any reminders. The President offered no demur. Instead, Reader, he waited until she retired last July 26, and then he dismissed Carandang outright, citing contrary jurisprudence to justify his action. This contrary jurisprudence was not presented to Morales when she refused to implement his order.

Next, let’s talk about the charge: graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust. The following is an eyewitness account of the media interview which led to his dismissal:  “On September 25, 2017, Overall Deputy Ombudsman Carandang informed me he has received a phone call from PDI reporter Ms. Nikko Dizon telling him that she has a copy of the alleged bank transaction history of the Dutertes and is requesting him to confirm if it is the same as the one in the possession of the Office…

“September 26, Nikko Dizon arrived and met ABS-CBN reporter Henry Omaga Diaz outside the building. Nikko Dizon was carrying several rolls of manila paper on which were pasted dozens of printed sheets of paper…

“Carandang had earlier agreed to meet in his office but was pressed for time, so he offered to step out of the elevator on the ground floor where they were waiting before proceeding to the basement parking.

“Nikko Dizon asked if she can show him her copy of Duterte’s bank transaction history—the sheets of paper pasted on the rolls of manila paper. I thought that they would need some privacy—and a table!—so I suggested an unused room from the corridor where they were all standing.

“Nikko unrolled the manila paper bundles on a table. Carandang, standing over the table (and probably not looking closely at the actual figures on the printouts), scanned several of the sheets and said they ‘more or less look similar…’ At that point, he cannot make the comparison Nikko wanted… he had nothing with him except his phone and a ball point pen.

“Henry pointed out that there were reports that those accounts totaled to billions. Carandang said the Office ‘does not do that.’ He gave a short explanation that the bank transaction history shows amounts ‘going in and out,’ so no total could be made.

“After a few pleasantries—it looked like the first time all three met—Carandang left for the basement parking.

“The entire episode could not have been more than ten minutes.”

So where’s the graft and corruption?  Where’s the betrayal of public trust? For this, Carandang gets fired and loses his retirement benefits? What is happening to us?

solita_monsod@yahoo.com

Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/115117/president-not-law#ixzz5OZey3tDU

HONOR AND SHAME

By: Solita Collas-Monsod - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:10 AM June 23, 2018

Reader, the day the eight members of the Supreme Court decided to stick to their decision on the quo warranto case — despite the entreaties of practically all law deans, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and thinking Filipino people — in violation of the Constitution,  I wanted to call that day a National Day of Shame.

After all, that act of getting rid of a sitting chief justice was, to me, the latest blatant act in a series of shameful acts that started with the extrajudicial killings (10,000? 12,000? How can we not tell?) arising from an anti-drug war that was being waged in the streets, where the poor are, and not in the mansions of the drug lords. Then came the trumped-up drug charges against Sen. Leila de Lima after she invited Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascañas (if you don’t remember them, Reader, you are part of the problem rather than of the solution) to a Senate hearing. The two men said they were part of President Duterte’s Death Squad — and Senator De Lima is still in detention 15 months later.

Ironically, Police Supt. Marvin Marcos, who the NBI accused of the premeditated murder (while in jail) of Mayor Rolando Espinosa, father of a suspected drug lord, was freed from jail after the charges against him were downgraded.

Add to this the unceremonious firing of former CHEd chair Patricia Licuanan, who was asked to hand in her resignation with less than six months to go on her term. Again, on trumped-up charges.

Then there is Sister Patricia Fox, the missionary who has been serving the Filipino people for 27 years, but earned the displeasure and the insults of President Duterte. His loyal minions at the Bureau of Immigration declared her as having forfeited her visa and ordered her to leave within 30 days. Thank heavens that Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told them off — that the BI has no authority to do that.

And what about the attempts to harass/pressure Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales? One can be forgiven for thinking that maybe the reason the administration has been gentler (if one can call it that) on her than the other ladies above is that the President’s son-in-law is her nephew.

…In between all these are the various encounters with the European Union, the United Nations, the president of the United States (Barack Obama), the UN Commission on Human Rights, and the International Criminal Court, where foul-mouthed language not worthy of any official of the Philippines, much less the president, was more the rule rather than the exception.

All these point to violations of human rights, the rule of law, and simple good manners and right conduct, not to mention possible pandering to other dictators and the risk of endangering the country’s patrimony in the future.

So why not call for a National Day, or even a National Year, of Shame? Because, Reader, I realize that while we may feel shame for the country and ourselves for what is happening, the perpetrators of these acts, the leaders of our country, appear shameless.

And why is this? Because to feel shame for dishonorable acts, one must first have a sense of honor. Honor is that moral compass, that personal GPS; as Walter Lippmann once said, it’s that ideal of conduct to which we hold ourselves even though it may be inconvenient, or unprofitable, or dangerous to do so. It is when we fail to follow that compass that shame is felt.

…We need more honorable men and women. Men like Justice Antonio Carpio. Women like Maria Lourdes Sereno, Leila de Lima, Patricia Licuanan, Pat Fox and Conchita Carpio Morales. May their tribe increase.

Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/114119/honor-and-shame#ixzz5PKKG4Mj3

“Degrade the rule of law and reap the consequences of a lawless society.”

“Under a tyranny the law is misused as an instrument of injustice, persecution, repression, and oppression.”

“Genuine democracy, which subsists in the democratic values and principles internalized by the people, is subverted when criminal leaders controvert the laws embodying the people’s deepest aspirations for freedom from tyranny.”

“Democracy is a work in progress, fascism a work in regress.”

Link: https://poetryofgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2018/07/politics.html