The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” That quote, attributed to Martin Luther King, comes to mind at the news that in Sarangani, two incumbent provincial board members and seven former officials of the province have been sentenced to life terms by the Sandiganbayan for the theft of the Countrywide Development Fund, or what the pork barrel was then called.
The long part of the equation was the time it took—11 years—to try the accused and pursue the case to its conclusion. But that it ended in a conviction, in a country where that kind of cathartic resolution is rare, should be seen as something positive, perhaps even a good sign. This case, after all, is by and large a small-scale version of the pork barrel controversy that has seen senators of the realm charged with colluding with Janet Lim-Napoles to skim off some P10 billion in public funds through bogus nongovernment organizations.
The Sarangani case, as reported by Inquirer correspondent Aquiles Zonio, involves a much smaller amount—P46 million—which was found to have been systemically looted by incumbent provincial board members Cornelio C. Martinez Jr. and Eugene L. Alzate, along with former board members Lelibeth Canillo-Prospero, Hernando L. Sibugan, Juanito H. Purisima, Marlind L. Marcelo, Redempto Y. Abiso and Jesus H. Desedilla, and former executive assistant Amelia Constantino-Zoleta. Their modus operandi was strikingly similar to the alleged Napoles scam. They diverted the CDF of Sarangani Rep. Erwin Chiongbian, who died last August, to fake NGOs they themselves put up, then helped themselves to the fund.
The scheme was uncovered by an employee in the office of the province’s vice governor at the time, Felipe K. Constantino. Computer operator Mary Ann Gadian was subjected to harassment for her exposé, eventually getting fired by her boss Constantino, who was among those included in the original charge sheet and who eventually turned state witness. The case was picked up by a local civic group, the Sarangani People’s Action for Reform and Good Governance (Spare-Go), which initiated the filing of the charges and persisted with it until redress had been obtained. “This case should make public officials realize that there’s such a thing as accountability,” Rev. Avelino Sichon, chair of Spare-Go, was quoted as saying. “Truth and justice triumphed after 11 years of pursuing the case.”
Gadian and Spare-Go deserve commendation for their courage and tenacity to go after powerful public officials in their hometown. The conviction of the accused should serve to inspire many others in this country that, sometimes, the justice system does work, and that there is hope in the often-thankless advocacy for better governance. And if the massive public outcry against the pork barrel plunder still hasn’t fazed the accused senators and other officials in similar situations, seemingly smug in the thought that they could wait out the controversy with diversionary smear stratagems in the form of privilege speeches, perhaps the conviction of the Sarangani cabal will do the trick.
The nine Sarangani accused were meted out life terms and ordered to each pay a P475,000 fine and to jointly indemnify the province in the amount of P475,000. And, what should be seen as a warning to political dynasts whose fortunes are anchored on perpetual politics and its promise of grand rehabilitation a few years down the road, the court also barred the convicts from holding public office for life.
In all, a stiff price to pay, but commensurate to their heinous crime, which was to conspire to loot the public coffers and betray the trust reposed on them as public officials. In the grand scheme of things, however, this case ranks as strictly local stuff. The question at this point is: Now that the Sandiganbayan has proven that it can punish erring small fry, when will the country see the conviction of big fish?
The precedent has been set. The facts of the case are nearly identical. The personages are more than twice as large, but so is their alleged thievery. If the arc of history is to bend toward justice, let the Sarangani case be a preview of bigger, more instructive convictions to come.