Where is our sense of right and wrong?

The House minority bloc is seeking compassion for ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona. Some people are even suggesting we should forgive him and not be vindictive.

Where is our sense of right and wrong, of value and integrity? Where is our sense of equality, fairness and justice?

Compassion? Why? He did that to himself without compassion for his position, for the Supreme Court as an institution of justice, for his profession, for himself and his family, and above all, for the country and the Filipino people!

Forgiveness? For the magnitude of his crime, made worse because he was the highest magistrate of the nation, he deserves the severest punishment in the books. The hundreds of thousands who are in jail for lesser crimes must first be forgiven and granted freedom before him. Criminals must pay for their crime. Isn’t that the law in all civilized nations on earth?

Vindictiveness? Punishing those found guilty of a crime beyond reasonable doubt after a fair trial is not vindictiveness. It is justice! Except perhaps for some politicians who are so confused themselves about what is right and wrong. Even kindergarten children can easily see the distinct difference between the two.

Should the Filipinos be compassionate too to the Arroyos and other officials who have committed a crime, forgive them for what they did to our people and society, and drop all charges and let them go scot-free?

Should the good people of the world be compassionate to and forgive Hitler and those who committed crimes against humanity so that the judicial system would not be perceived as vindictive? The scale may be different but the same principle applies.

We are Christians and should be compassionate and forgive, and not be vindictive. Yes, we are Christians, but the Ten Commandments are a testament to God’s version of crime and punishment. This code does not say you may commit adultery or kill or steal and we, the people, will be compassionate and forgive you and all others who will follow your example, because we are not a vindictive people. Even the cavemen had their laws.

What has this depraved and masochistic way of thinking brought our nation and our people? Repeated abuses from our elected officials—and an epidemic of hunger, hopelessness, desperation among the poor now languishing in the gutter of poverty, going to bed at night with empty stomachs and, worse, with empty dreams.

If we do not send criminals to jail, they will rule our society. Let’s not be naive!

Only criminals and those with a perverted sense of propriety and justice could be against President Aquino’s “daang matuwid.”

Personally, for trivial and petty matters, I would choose kindness anytime over correctness. Serious crimes, I leave to our justice system.

It’s time for us Filipinos to wise up and protect our personal and national dignity, integrity, honor, and justice itself, otherwise the whole world will think we are a bunch of stupid and masochistic idiots.

—PHILIP S. CHUA, MD, FACS, FPCS,

chair, Filipino United Network-USA,

www.philipSchua.com, [email protected]