Philippine courts no longer relied on as champions of justice

Notwithstanding the brickbats being hurled at Senate investigations into the alleged corrupt practices of Vice President Jejomar Binay as nothing more than grandstanding theatrics or worse (e.g., “in aid of election” to a higher office), they serve a very useful purpose. They are the only means by which accusations of decades-long

venalities against the Vice President and his family could be brought out into the open. If those charges had continued to go unnoticed, it might be “Makati now, tomorrow—God help us!—the whole country!”

The favorite nonsense dished out by Binay’s indefatigable errand boys is: “Let the courts decide whether the Binays are guilty or not. That is the ‘proper forum’ for any such investigation, not the Senate circus where they are being pilloried in a ‘trial by

publicity.’”

Coming to the aid of her beleaguered family, Sen. Nancy Binay likewise protested, insisting that only the court can resolve the issue.

As a general rule, crooks are more at home in a “court of law.” Firstly, it is so easy for them to block evidence from seeing the light of day under the strict “Rules of Evidence.” Truth to tell, about 80 percent of the testimonial and documentary evidence presented at Senate hearings can never pass muster in a “court of law.” But thanks to sheer guts and gumption, filliped by an indomitable sense of independence, the senators have been ignoring the overly exclusionary rules promulgated by the Supreme Court to govern court proceedings.

Secondly, in court, defense lawyers can always invoke the “sub judice” rule by which a magistrate can issue a “gag order” commanding everyone, including the media, to stop blabbing about any aspect of the case. Thus, cases now pending at the Sandiganbayan stymie any other kind of probe on the same subject matter with a brick wall set up by that rule. Under such cover, the public and the media are blindsided and lose focus.

And thirdly, with the deftness of highly-paid lawyers, they can have the cases dragging on for eternity under the guise of “due process,” until the public loses interest and no longer remembers.

To be sure, lawyers have taken the solemn oath to help speed up the administration of justice; but in reality, that’s just drivel as everyone knows. Lawyers, sad to say, are mostly no more virtuous than prostitutes; they will do anything for a client if the price is obscenely right! (Think about it: Who are instrumental in the first place in making a mockery of the laws against the use of dummies by public officials to hide ill-gotten wealth?)

In contrast, Senate hearings make the best-paid lawyers effete, if not pathetically irrelevant. Thus, such hearings proceed unimpeded and are wrapped up in just months with the “shenaniganizers” totally exposed for what they are!

The bottom line is, no one seriously expects genuine justice and retribution anymore from any court after decades of shilly-shallying and gobbledygook!

—JEREMIAS H. TOBIAS,

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