Thursday, January 11, 2007 Editorials: Moving on in the Belciña case
SO-CALLED “win-win” solutions, like agreements forged outside the court, are actually partly “lose-lose”; in the end, both parties don’t get what they originally wanted.
As a result, settlements get the flak especially from those not party to the agreement but who feel shortchanged by the process or want a better denouement for it.
This is why the decision of the complainant in the case against former Maslog, Danao City parish priest Jose “Joey” Belciña to file an affidavit of desistance and move for the dismissal of the case was met either with surprise or disapproval.
People probably did not expect the celebrated case to end this way and so soon.
Talks
The development, though, was not unexpected because rumors had swirled early on that Belciña and the woman were moving for a settlement.
In this, the complainant’s openness to talks was obviously not made without any advice because people knowledgeable in the law and on women’s rights have been surrounding her from the very beginning.
The settlement rumors were bolstered in December during a mass in Maslog when the priest issued a statement apologizing, though vaguely, for his previous conduct ---with the woman’s supporters in attendance.
Voluntary
While the child abuse case (reduced from the original complaint of rape) eventually filed against Belciña involves a criminal act that is essentially a community concern, its prosecution is highly dependent on the attitude of the parties involved.
People can speculate all they want: that the priest, in issuing the apology, was probably guilty; that the complainant, in backing off from the case, may have been in it only for the money; or that the woman’s advisers, in opening the door to a settlement, may have known from the start that their case was weak.
In the end, however, the reality is that no matter what the public may think and want nothing much can be done if both sides feel that their interest will be better served if they agree to a settlement.
Moving on
The main goal of the agreement was summed in the woman’s affidavit of desistance: she and Belciña wants to leave the issue behind and move on.
That, though, is better said than done, because without justice being fully served, questions will continue to hound both the accuser and the accused for years to come.
The ghosts of the past will be more difficult to exorcise.
