Dueling martyrs?

As you read this, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima might be on her way to jail, if she isn’t yet ensconced in one of the charming facilities of our penal system. This is one scenario painted for us by a Malacañang official, who said one possibility arising from today’s en banc session of the Supreme Court could be the imposition of a jail sentence on the lady secretary for “contempt.”

The possible charge arises from the decision of De Lima to—defy, ignore, defer (choose your verb)—the TRO issued by the Supreme Court Tuesday in effect lifting the “watch-list order” against former president and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband and travel companion former “FG” Mike Arroyo.

By now, you would have to be hopelessly clueless not to know what transpired Tuesday evening, when GMA and her party had to run a gauntlet of eager-beaver media persons just to enter Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Once there, they were prevented from leaving by immigration officials who cited De Lima’s order for them to prevent the Arroyo party from departing.

An impromptu (at least it appeared to be so) press conference held by incensed members of the former president’s party, plus House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, at the airport itself became the perfect opportunity to air grievances against both P-Noy and De Lima. Arroyo’s spokeswoman Elena Bautista-Horn, spokesman Raul Lambino, and Lagman took turns assailing the government’s actions. They warned of a “constitutional crisis,” while claiming the Aquino administration is turning out to be “worse than martial law.” They warned that they would file contempt charges against De Lima (which they did yesterday), while insisting on the “right to travel” not just of the Arroyos but of all Filipino citizens. And to top it all, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, speaking of his certainty that his client Mike Arroyo would return to the country if allowed to travel abroad, offered to have one of his balls cut off if Arroyo fails to make good his promise. To which presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda replied that that was not the government’s problem, “only his (Topacio’s) wife’s.”

Which just shows that in the heat of controversy, the first thing that flies out the window is civility.

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The Malacañang official says his own personal advice to De Lima was “to embrace the contempt charge,” visions of De Lima running a similar gauntlet of unruly media perhaps dancing in his head.

In that case, we would have a case of “dueling martyrs.” GMA certainly made for a compelling martyr figure, seated on a wheelchair, her head, neck and chest encased in a metal brace that made her look like Hannibal Lecter. A media colleague, though, observed that she seemed to have enough strength still to squeeze into a pair of leather pants.

I don’t think De Lima would go so far as to don leather pants, but if and when she is arrested for contempt, she would make a similarly sympathetic figure. Spinmeisters would be quick to paint her as a courageous fighter for “justice,” willing to spend time behind bars to uphold the law.

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Word is that the Aquino administration could be filing, as early as today, the first criminal case against the former president, most probably the charge of election fraud which is being investigated by a joint Comelec-DOJ panel. This will be followed by a flurry of other charges, beginning with the plunder charge in connection with the misuse of funds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. A former official of the PCSO, former general manager Rosario Uriarte, admitted in a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing that intelligence funds of the agency were diverted to other uses with the full knowledge and authorization of Arroyo. Expected to follow are charges stemming from such controversies as the sale of a second-hand helicopter (at a price for a brand-new one) to the PNP; the aborted ZTE-NBN deal; and the “fertilizer fund scam,” among others.

Critics of the P-Noy administration might say the filing of charges against the Arroyos is a delayed and hurried reaction to assertions that no criminal charges have been filed against them. But now that charges will be (or have been) filed, should that not satisfy these critics?

Admittedly, the slow action on the cases against GMA and the former FG has been puzzling and infuriating. I understand that the DOJ wanted to build air-tight cases against them, to forestall criticisms that they were railroading the system. Or, horrors, that they would end up with very weak cases that could easily be dismissed or end in the couple’s acquittal, putting them forever beyond the reach of the law.

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That was certainly a possibility if the Arroyo party had been allowed to leave for Singapore. No matter the conditions set by the Supreme Court in its TRO, and the avowals of intent to return by the Arroyos themselves, there was nothing we could have done—short of working with Interpol—if they ultimately decided to extend their trip indefinitely.

I’d only feel sorry for Topacio’s wife.

The Supreme Court—at least the eight members who voted for the TRO—certainly knew that it was hearing not just a question of law but a question of vital political importance. GMA and the ex-FG aren’t ordinary tourists or OFWs. True, there was supposedly an urgent medical issue behind their desire to travel, but medical authorities including the health secretary had certified that GMA’s health problems could very well find relief here.

It is indeed a complicated, colorful scenario. My hats off to whoever conceived of the story line and plotted its timing and effect.