Wednesday, January 03, 2007 Wenceslao: Rape of the judicial process By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
THAT many Filipinos are angry at the Arroyo administration for forcing the transfer of convicted rapist Daniel Smith from the Makati City jail to the US embassy is not surprising. Two points: no respect for the court that ordered Smith's incarceration at the Makati jail and wicked timing---it was done hours before a weekend and a holiday.
The move tops the other shameless act of Malacañang going into the Christmas season when it steered the Charter change train using the constituent assembly scheme without the participation of the Senate. This time around the court, not the Senate, is the one getting the insult. Which shows how callous officials of this government are.
But don't forget the other hand in this sordid tale. A pro-Smith publicity build-up was visible days before the US Marine was spirited out of the Makati jail. Remember the high profile but pathetic (in number) pro-Smith “demos”? That was followed by the US announcement to cancel the 2007 Balikatan between American and Filipino troops.
Don’t consider that a brief for the Arroyo administration. Because no matter how much pressure the US government will exert on its counterpart here, the decision will still be up to Malacañang. President Arroyo can either be an “Iron Lady” like what her drumbeaters are portraying her to be or a marshmallow stooge of US imperialism.
Makati City Judge Benjamin Pozon found Smith guilty of raping a Filipina known only as “Nicole,” a court-designated pseudonym. Now it looks like another rape is being perpetrated, this time by the Arroyo administration on the country’s judicial process. Indeed, there seems to be a feeling in the Palace that it is above everything, even the law.
The arrogance did not present itself first in the wreck of Malacañang’s Charter change train. It was seen after the political opposition’s failed attempts to unseat Arroyo and the militants’ failure to muster the crowd in its protest actions. The result: calibrated preemptive response, snubbing of Senate probes, killings of militant leaders, etc.
If Malacañang does not know it, then it has to be told that every act of arrogance eats away at whatever remaining support the Arroyo administration is getting from the people. And one lesson from the fall of the Marcos regime is that Filipinos may endure poverty but their level of tolerance to the excesses of government officials is low.
