I LIKE Ping Lacson because he despises the pork barrel. But one question that boggles the mind is: Why did he flee the country and go into hiding if there is no blood on his hands? Facing his battle in his homeland with the bravado of a Trojan warrior could have been a commendable act of a man who was once a tough chief of the entire Philippine National Police. Isn’t it?
Power and money are the two most potent possessions a person can have, and a party litigant in this country who has one or both can use one or the other, or both, to get a lawyer who is not necessarily the best but one who knows how to play and fool around with the arcane unwritten code of procedures that have contaminated our legal system, if only to do or undo things which are beyond what is legal, and be able to get what his or her client wants. That is if the price (prize) is right, and the other party litigant is not as equally rich and powerful at least as his adversary, because otherwise, the poor litigant will end up with nothing.
Lawyers are paid by their clients not necessarily to fight for what is right, but oftentimes, to fight for what is wrong. Even the Martians know this.
Furthermore, judges and justices are not fool-proof in their character and some of them can easily yield to outside pressures and temptations, especially if the temptation is about money. A judge or justice who is not already rich may not be able to resist a bag with P50 million in it if it is dangled in his face in exchange for a coveted decision. I am not saying that this is the scenario in Lacson’s case, but anyone can always think that a zero possibility is unlikely.
But if I were the judge or the justice I would probably take the money and run like a bandit.
—MANUEL BIASON,
mannybiason@verizon.net