It’s the same old refrain. Crooks in this country steal big and, when caught, hire the best lawyers money can buy—or hire Svengalis to make sure their cases land on the lap of the best judges or justices money can buy. We make a big deal out of announcements that formal charges have been filed against scumbags only to see them walk away free due to “insufficient evidence.” We have seen this happening almost routinely in numerous court cases against very high government officials in the dock for plunder.
But the Godzilla of all scams has got to be the looting by the Marcoses during their decades-long kleptocratic regime. According to the Presidential Commission on Good Government, which was created to run after the Marcos loot, their ill-gotten wealth is said to be in the billions of US dollars stashed abroad and still intact. Needless to say, that’s the kind of money that can buy, not only the best lawyers, but the best (i.e., friendliest) president?
The Marcoses knew that only a perversely friendly and grateful president can complete the redemption of their family’s “honor and good name.” Lo and behold, by a slip of the tongue, Du30 did admit on national TV that he got funds from the Marcoses to keep his presidential campaign going. And he minced no words in expressing his profound gratitude.
So, juxtaposing the multimillion pesos-worth of multimedia ads put up for his campaign and his self-deprecating admission that his pocket was never that deep, it was easy to add two and two together. The Marcoses, of course, were quick to deny it, consistent with their pretense all these years that they stole nothing during their imperial reign.
In our dusty crystal ball, we see again the rise of the Marcosian empire—unless we can make Du30 take a pause before he can do more harm than good. Something has got to send the unmistakable message to him that the 16 million who voted for him gave him no license to disregard the sentiments of the more than 30 million of us who did not.
NIMFA RINA RICAFORT, ricafortnimfarina@gmail.com