Can a justice be ‘slightly guilty’?
Many of my friends and I are shocked by news reports about the Supreme Court’s hesitation to remove Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong from office, in connection with the so-called Kevlar helmets case.
Can a Sandiganbayan justice be “slightly guilty”? It reminds us of the reprehensible misogynist joke about a prospective wife “who has a minor flaw—she’s just slightly pregnant.” People in the judiciary can, by their corrupt actions, actually wreak lifelong suffering and utter grief on entire families who are unwitting victims of their venality; in Ong’s case, the victims would be the families of the sons, brothers, fathers and husbands killed, while fighting for their country, by the illusory protection provided by the substandard helmets. How can anyone even consider as
appropriate and just a decision for suspension instead of removal from office for a person capable of inflicting such tragedy?
—BENJAMIN AGUNOD,
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