Wednesday, December 19, 2007 Malilong: Fickle leadership By Frank Malilong The Other Side
WHAT’S in a name? A lot of irony if you share it with one whose life is remembered for his study on reason and you’re being charged with doing the ultimate irrational thing not once but a dozen times.
I’m not sure if Aristotle Aves’ parents have heard of the Greek philosopher, who was the student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great, when they named their son after him but Aristotle the original must be turning in his grave over what happened to his namesake.
The latest police count says Aves, whom they allege is a fraternity member turned hit man, is responsible for the killing of 12 people, including a Japanese businessman and a supporter of President Arroyo. The police based their claim on the results of the ballistic examination of the pistol that they took from Aves when he was arrested.
Not everyone will take the word of the police at face value, however. I remember that after a motorcycle-driven gunman went on a shooting spree last September and the name of the Alpha Kappa Rho was mentioned, the fraternity’s top man in the region, Richard Buscaino, expressed fears that all unsolved killings in Cebu might be blamed on his group. When I met him again a few weeks later, he told me, “See what I mean?”
Indeed, the temptation to dump as many cases on Aves is there. It is easy and it is convenient. But it is also dangerous. What if Aves is indeed innocent as his family claims and the real killer or killers are still out there?
Not too many sympathize with Aves, who has gained notoriety partly because of police and media reports. But the fact is that until the courts say otherwise, he is presumed innocent no matter what the police say against him.
Police are confident that they have the goods on Aves. Let’s see if their bite is as good as their bark.
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Is he in or is he out? Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales says Romeo Jalosjos, the Zamboanga del Norte congressman who was convicted of rape, will remain in jail until he turns 70 in 2010. Jalosjos, however, claims that he has been released pursuant to President Arroyo’s commutation of his sentence.
I have visited Jalosjos at the national penitentiary three or four times in 2000 in the company of a former colleague of his in Congress. In fact, I remember that during one of those visits, I played tennis with a Chinese national serving time for drug pushing against a pair that included one of the convicted killers of Ninoy Aquino.
At that time, Nonong was confident that he would be released because then president Joseph Estrada reportedly promised to pardon him. Unfortunately for him, Erap was deposed before he could order the former congressman’s freedom.
If that was a big letdown for him, this one is huge. A discharge order had been issued by prison authorities and Jalosjos had packed up until he was told that he had nowhere to go but his prison cell.
Malacanang’s chief legal counsel says the decision on Jalosjos was proof that Mrs. Arroyo listens to the voice of the people, impliedly admitting that indeed his release was a done deal until some sectors howled in protest. Excuse me?
They made a mistake and still want to come out of it smelling roses.
If this is how fickle the national leadership is, heaven help us.
