Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Seares: God, people and Estrada By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
TO whom does former president Joseph Estrada turn to at this hour when the court is due to rule on the criminal charge of plunder against him?
“God and the people.”
Thus Erap yesterday told Bobby Nalzaro of dySS radio, the same answer he probably gave earlier to dyAB’s Leo Lastimosa and dyHP’s Ruphil Bañoc.
The “God” reply shouldn’t bother anyone except the overly pious who think the Lord’s name and Erap’s should not be uttered in the same breath.
It’s the “people” stuff that’s disturbing. If Sandiganbayan convicts Erap, he can appeal to the Supreme Court and pray for God’s help. The High Court might spot a “reversible error.” And divine intervention may find him a way out.
But why must he turn to the people for help? The people, in democracy’s scheme, can act collectively only during elections.
No people’s tribunal reverses a court ruling.
Devalued Edsa
Ah, he must mean “people power,” the same upheaval that ousted him from Malacañang in 2001.
But Edsa has devalued since then. The remedy is flawed: Public sentiment can be rigged, and what anomaly for a small fraction of the Filipino populace, massed on a tiny strip of land called Edsa, to steer the country’s course.
Does Erap expect the same surge and swell of public sentiment to stave off a guilty verdict or its effects?
Public opinion may not matter unless it’s the kind that storms Palace gates and cripples courts and the armed forces and police.
The court is influenced by evidence and political reality. And the reality of the times is that a forgetful people might not feel outrage anymore, whether he stays in prison or walks.
