Friday, October 26, 2007 Wenceslao: Erap’s pardon and feeling sorry By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
FORMER president Joseph Estrada, recently convicted for the crime of plunder, wants nothing less than absolute and unconditional pardon. Or that was what his lawyer Jose Flaminiano told President Arroyo. That was one problem. The other is Erap’s insistence he is innocent. That sounds like he wants to have his cake and eat it too.
We usually grant pardon only after a person admits committing an infraction and then shows remorse. But there are times when a person can extract pardon without being remorseful or admitting he sinned. A bully can do that to a sissy by pulling the latter by the collar and threatening him with harm if he won’t grant him (the bully) pardon.
The other day, I heard one of the private prosecutors in the Erap case, Simeon Marcelo, talk about strengths and weaknesses in relation to government institutions. He said something like if our institutions are strong then we would not bend the process to accommodate the former president.
Meaning, we can force him to serve his sentence.
But while some of our government institutions may still be strong, Malacañang isn’t. President Arroyo is barely surviving and is clutching at straws. Erap, on the other hand, still wields clout with the political opposition because of his money, his perceived support from the masses and, worse, because many politicians bow down to his wishes.
If the President grants absolute and unconditional pardon to Estrada even if he is insisting on his innocence and is not showing remorse, then Malacañang is the sissy in the bully-sissy metaphor, which is not surprising because of the current fragile political setup. The act will, in turn, further erode people’s faith in our criminal justice system.
Crime and Punishment 101 will tell you that up to now the former president has not been penalized appropriately for the crime he committed. The only high point in this sorry episode of our history was when he was arrested in 2001, an act hailed by many---rather prematurely, on hindsight---as a “triumph of the rule of law” in this country.
Much has been downhill from then on. While Erap was first jailed in a military camp, his treatment relaxed from the time the Sandiganbayan heard his case. Not only was he eventually placed under house arrest (in the comforts of his rest house in Tanay, Rizal), he was allowed to lead a semi-free life, gracing every available family activity.
I won’t blame people if the Erap case will seem to them like all fury signifying nothing---more so if the President finally pardons the plunderer and permanently frees him. The hurt must be felt more by prosecutors, like Marcelo and Dennis Villa-Ignacio, and witnesses like Luis Chavit Singson, who risked their lives to make the case stick.
But no, maybe Marcelo, Villa-Ignacio and Singson are luckier. My heart bleeds more for Clarissa Ocampo and other well-meaning witnesses who endured a change of lifestyle in the hope that justice will eventually be served. With Erap freed from detention, I don’t know if they will feel secure or will be able to move on with their lives.
And I feel sorry for us, ordinary citizens of this country, especially those who were in Edsa in 2001 or, if they were not there, believed in the cause that Edsa 2 espoused. Politicians have once more put a heroic effort down the drain. What a pity.
