Speaking too soon?

Sen. Risa Hontiveros was quoted as saying “… justice will eventually push its way through their walls of impunity,” alluding to Imelda Marcos and her family getting their comeuppance at the end of the day, even if Mrs. Marcos may still post bail pending reconsideration or appeal of her conviction by the Sandiganbayan (“Imelda gets 77 years but jail time doubted,” 11/10/18).

The people need only to remember how the Supreme Court, the final arbiter of whether that conviction stays or not, had brazenly allowed, despite all public outrage, a “hero’s burial” for the late Ferdinand Marcos, who was deposed and ignominiously thrown out of the country for his family’s kleptocratic rule.

It toed the line drawn by President Duterte, who never had any qualms about granting Marcos that privilege supposedly reserved only for the most respectable and honorable citizens of this country.

Given that Mr. Duterte inexplicably continues to hold the Marcoses in high esteem, and the perception that, despite all his bluster against graft and corruption, he means to make good his enormous debt of gratitude for the Marcoses’ support for his cash-strapped presidential run in 2016, plus a malleable Supreme Court that cannot say no to him, it does look like Hontiveros may have spoken too soon.

REY CHAVEZ ESCOBAR,
[email protected]