Wednesday, February 14, 2007 Editorials: Charge against Radaza: not the usual poll dirt
THE charge of corruption raised against Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza is not the usual smear campaign that comes up in an election season.
The mud thrown is that Radaza was asking for a P15 million kickback or three per cent of P500 million, cost of four business projects planned by businessmen brothers Richard and Rafael King in that city.
Accusations hurled at this time, when the election is less than three months away, can be easily warded off as "politically motivated" and people will just smirk with a what's-new shrug.
But not this dirt. It comes not from a political foe but from two private businessmen who said the mayor was already asking too much from them.
It is no mere allegation said to the wind on campaign soapbox, in a welter of charges and countercharges. It is on tape, a video clip no less, taken by a spy camera in a corporate boardroom.
Evidence questioned
The mayor's camp has already questioned the evidence, indicating it is weak because it can be easily made and doctored. It is not Mayor Radaza seen and speaking on tape. It is a contractor, Nelson Yu, who's referring to the size of the mayor's demand ("only three per cent"). And Yu is already talking about having been framed.
Radaza defenders say the burden of proof is on the Kings, indicating that the video is not solid evidence of a crime. Lawyers like Ombudsman Virginia Santiago weigh in with similar ideas: 1. That kind of evidence can be easily produced, 2. It needs more than circumstantial evidence to convict a public official of graft.
Largely true. They are all thinking, however, of prosecution in court, with all its stringent requirements and limiting legalities.
Public opinion
Think instead of the public: ordinary people who make judgments without needing to assess evidence against legal standards, who will tie the news about the video-backed accusation with what they have heard about what's rotten in Lapu-Lapu, the same ordinary people who will vote in May.
Richard King, interviewed by Bobby Nalzaro on dySS, said he would not have wanted to destroy the mayor's reputation.
Intended or not, the result couldn't have been not seen by them. They knew that even without prosecuting the mayor, they could nail his hide on the wall.
Innocent or guilty as sin, Mayor Radaza can only curse fate for facing off with business tycoons instead of the usual politicos.
