Thursday, April 24, 2008 Seares: Saved by Aguinaldo By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
THE Aguinaldo Doctrine holds that an elective public official who may be guilty in an administrative complaint gets off the hook if he's reelected. Reelection takes away the penalty of dismissal.
When Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza ran for reelection last May, he was facing a complaint alleging he took part in the purchase of excessively overpriced streetlamps. He won the election, before the multimillion-peso scandal could be decided administratively.
There are serious doubts about the doctrine.
One: Voters weren't sure if Boy was guilty or not. Would they have voted for him had the omdudsman announced before the elections last Monday's findings?
Two: Poll results are influenced more by organized and effective vote-getting than issues. Money and political machinery, not the issue, picks the winner.
Shaky ground
Hinging the doctrine on election victory is shaky but Mayor Boy is provided legal refuge: He stays in office, at least for now.
On the criminal aspect, he can go to Supreme Court to stall filing of the case, arrest and trial, and possible preventive suspension by the Sandiganbayan.
He can buy time, depending on what wealth, power, and legal eagles can pull these days.
But there's something they must reckon with: the current public mood against corruption. Supreme Court and Sandiganbayan may see in the streetlamps case a chance to be tough against dishonesty in government.
Aguinaldo saves Mayor Boy from administrative sanction but offers little else. The doctrine doesn't say he didn't do what the complaint charges. It just says he cannot be punished with loss of office.
