The implausibility of Tiglao’s plot

This is in response to Rigoberto Tiglao’s column “Prosecutors linked to Hacienda’s law firms.” (Inquirer, 2/2/12) Tiglao has previously alleged that there is a grand conspiracy to replace Supreme Court justices in order for President Benigno Aquino III to gain a favorable ruling on the pending Hacienda Luisita case. Now, Tiglao says that the prosecution team, which has links to law firms representing the Cojuangco clan, stands to earn billions in legal fees should they succeed in impeaching Chief Justice Renato Corona. Tiglao’s speculations would make for an interesting crime novel were it not for its deficiencies.

A good crime novel must have satisfyingly nefarious villains. Unlike Professor Moriarty or Don Vito Corleone who thrive in secrecy and anonymity, Tiglao’s depiction of a very public and popular P-Noy as a criminal mastermind is laughable. The prosecution team, as underlings and capos, are hardly convincing as wicked rouges because they are routinely chastised and made to appear bumbling by the senator-judges.

Another critique is the implausibility of Tiglao’s plot. His farfetched storyline involves a parade of Supreme Court justices who will be impeached, one after the other, until P-Noy has the majority of the Court on his side. Does Tiglao really think that P-Noy has the audacity to replace justices the way a mafia don assassinates his enemies? Are the Filipino people in Tiglao’s tale that obtuse not to notice such a blatant abuse of power?

For these reasons, Tiglao’s foray into crime fiction is a monumental failure. His speculations are just too unrealistic for any fan of the genre—even less so for the general public.

—SOLIMAN DELARIARTE,

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