ELECTIVE OFFICE is an escape route that has been used by criminals to avoid prosecution and conviction for many crimes. As the 2013 elections near, the Commission on Elections may find it worthwhile to work with the judiciary and the Department of Justice to stop criminal suspects from using this escape route.
Many suspects in various criminal cases have used running for local office in their areas of influence as an effective way of eluding capture, incarceration, trial and conviction. The late Celso de los Angeles of Legacy Bank notoriety ran for mayor in a Bicol town and won, somewhat delaying his date of reckoning. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sought election as representative of a Pampanga congressional district and won to cloak herself with some congressional immunity.
So there could be wise guys in the coming 2013 elections who might try to use this strategy again. Rigoberto Tiglao’s prediction that impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona could become president proposes that Corona run for a Congress or Senate seat in preparation for a presidential run.
Given these previous escapes from the long arm of the law, the murder conviction of Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. by a Cebu court is worth discussing. The verdict caps a 10-year-long trial that saw six judges inhibiting themselves from this high-profile case which sought Ecleo’s conviction for the murder of his wife, Alona Bacolod. The case also included a reported gunbattle between the suspect’s cult followers and government authorities who tried to arrest the suspect in his Dinagat hideout for the killing of more members of the
Bacolod family and a neighbor by an Ecleo cult follower. Despite public coverage of the killings and the gunbattle, the suspect won as a congressman. Based on past records, the courageous Judge Soliver Peras, who rendered this decision against Ecleo, should be given maximum protection by police and military authorities.
It is hoped that both Congress and the Senate can dispose of the Corona trial soon. Maybe then, our good senators and congressmen will come up with a law that will discourage criminals from seeking elective office to elude Lady Justice.
—JOSE OSIAS,
jzosias@gmail.com