It seems discomforting to know that prosecutors of DOJ have to go on leave en masse on account of the rather faulty decision of Malacanang to have to place them on a preventive suspension. This unduly creates the public perception that the DOJ prosecutors involved in the now famous case of Alabang boys have in fact been bribed as alleged by PDEA in what remains a theory yet to be proved except that the burden of proof by PDEA has not been pressed hard enough in order to ferret out the truth in this consuming imbroglio.
Tri-media has been fairly balanced in the coverage of the news showing both sides of the equation. Now a case has been filed with the Commission on Human Rights against those PDEA agents by the counsel of the Alabang boys. At least this is a good enough reasonable effort to properly put in its proper legal context all the events that transpired in this so-called buy-bust operation in so far as possible human rights violations have been committed by PDEA.
On the other hand, PDEA, purposively it would appear, has to leave everything hanging in the air as Major Marcelino did not think it incumbent upon him to appear before the NBI so that investigation can begin. Where it ordinarily indicates, Major Marcelino wants tri-media to cover him when he speaks at every turn just like his boss, the PDEA chief when they should inhibit themselves from this vicious practice of simply wanting to earn more “pogi points”. And yet, they did not stop saying that they will state the facts of the case as they know them at the proper forum and at the proper time. In the meantime, what their acts indicate are preliminaries to the promise they will soon be found to have been carrying empty – full disclosure of solid rock evidence.
At the bottom of the scale, we probably might find reason to suspect that the true weight of the case is being mangled with. We have heard a retired general who is president of an association of former flag officers in the AFP manifesting all-out support for and in behalf of the PDEA chief as it was with Major Marcelino when his mistahs or contemporaries in the Philippine Marines were also interviewed. All of a sudden, PDEA chief made even more discomforting revelations that he did, in fact, recruit 18 Magdalo officers into this rank after they have been dismissed from the service by no less than the PGMA. And press releases, presumably from PDEA, kept on flowing in all media outfits vouching, in effect, that former Magdalo officers made good as anti-narcotics agents of PDEA.
Is PDEA sending “shark attacks effect” on our political beach? Is Malacanang afraid of the Magdalo officers? Is Malacanang afraid of that association of former chiefs of staff in the AFP or other flag officers? We can discern from all these news developments that what a certain General Echeveria in fact has done is lay down the imprimatur for what could possibly be a coup d etat on the wings if and when Malacanang will side with DOJ. But why this seeming military intervention in a purely civilian agency like PDEA simply because its head is a former AFP Chief of Staff? Sometimes, these peemayers have become an anachronism in our times and this mistah culture that they want to infuse in our mainstream bureaucracy is to my mind, very sickening.
It can be ordinarily said that PDEA is into an aggressive media blitz to earn more media mileage than any of the DOJ prosecutors can afford for themselves except for free. There will then be a lifestyle check on the
DOJ prosecutors except no such similar thing for the PDEA agents involved in this case. But why this rather biased moves? In the unseen process, DOJ has been under heavy attack via the most powerful medium or TV that captures attention across intelligences. It is fast becoming a trial by publicity and PDEA is apparently winning the war in the media front. But soon, the case will have to take its own course. We have the courts, the judges, the system itself to take care of the case once presented to them. And for this to come about, perhaps, it is high time that PDEA be advised to refrain from airing its side on the controversy in surface media alone. PDEA should let the proper agency of government to begin its work so that the entire legal process can start and finish at the earliest possible time to bring closure to this already dragging controversy.
Simple-mindedly however, most people know that something is really hidden from public view while on the other hand, the other segment in this brewing feud is being cast in bad light. The DOJ prosecutors are made to appear guilty of the so-called P50 million bribery simply because PDEA floated the whole idea around – in media, that is – presumably as a kind of gag to DOJ in the face of supposedly impending resolution of a dismissal of the case. Now, such media hype effectively applied the brakes to what should be the DOJ resolution that should have already been issued out. It became Catch 22.
The truth will come out however PDEA would attempt to placate the facts of the case. And since DOJ is under heavy strain, it is well advised that the prosecutors undertake to show in the clearest and cleanest way possible the defects if possibly the acts committed by PDEA agents that are violative of our existing laws. DOJ must be able to redeem itself from the tarnished image of its institution that a Santiago-Marcelino duo has caused. Surely, in the level of ordinary public perception, DOJ has lost its case. But as the facts will soon unfold, the justice system as we know it shall be able to delete the half truths, the lies, the allegations in our individual memory banks, pray tell.
From where I stand, there is no room for our legal processes to operate in any other way than those that are prescribed especially in the whole issue of whether or not the rules of procedure or so-called rules of engagement have been dutifully followed to the letter – by all its intent and spirit. Falling short of this, let it be placed to test whether indeed PDEA chief Santiago knows the law as he claims.
Contributing Writer: PRIMER C. PAGUNURAN
UP Diliman, Quezon City Email: nielsky_2003@yahoo.com
Popularity: 1% [?]
One or the other is either not performing duties it originally intended to, or performing duties in an improper way, to the detriment of the system’s original purpose.
The common duties of these departments that many Filipinos expect them to do are to send bad people to jail and protecting citizens from future consequences of drug pushing and drug addicts.
When entities are not acting as a team and coordinate its duty to achieve common goals, the citizens of this country will continue to suffer. It is common knowledge in which government officials or employees seek illegitimate personal gain through bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, and embezzlement. It’s an organized rent seeking type of political corruption where there’s no transparency promoting narrow interests.
A more solid facts from experts studies of our country’s Political Corruption involving the Justice system and our Law Enforcement can be found HERE
/normal.asp?pageid=337 and HERE.
The links above support that both DOJ and PDEA are weak in its duties and governance.
“CORRUPTION in the Philippines is perceived to have further worsened as the country sank to its lowest ranking to date in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2008.” PCIJ
“From 131 (out of 179 countries) last year, the Philippines is now at 141 (out of 180), DOWN 10 notches with a score of 2.3, the worst it has attained since the composite index, which draws from several expert and business surveys, was introduced in 1995. The country’s CPI score has a confidence range between 2.1 and 2.5.”
In my own opinion, PDEA and DOJ are both corrupt. It is wise to keep people bad people in jail.
KP,
I know preventive suspensions can lead to perceptions of guilt; but preventive suspensions are also means to clear the names of those who have been suspended.
<blockquote.PDEA chief made even more discomforting revelations that he did, in fact, recruit 18 Magdalo officers into this rank after they have been dismissed from the service by no less than the PGMA.
they were honorably discharged from the service, and who cleared those appointments?
it is confusing;you mean to say before all of these the DOJ was very clean?
the bottomline is they(DOJ/PDEA) both need to redeem themselves.
KG:
I said that, at the risk of being misinterpreted, solely in the context of the Alabang boys as a specific drug case.
I do agree that both DOJ and PDEA, if they yet can redeem themselves from tarnished images, must simply
satisfy the requirements of existing laws, even maybe of simple legal ethics.
Truth is, if a survey be made, DOJ secretary does not stand a chance to earn good trust ratings if all lawyers in the Philippines will be asked if he did make good as DOJ secretary.
The same ought to apply with PDEA chief who occurs to me as cheap propagandist. DOJ can even appear as worse because everything indicates that he is what sycophant does.
I hate lawyers, not only does it rhime with liers, they practice the second oldest profession. That does not mean that I approve of soldiers playing cops.
The rift as I understand it is how PDEA bunggled its operations against drug syndicates as pointed out by the DOJ prosecutors, and they have a point.
The Philippine military has its own mandate, issuing a circular or memorandum allowing detached service is not only unconstitutional but arrogant. It does not matter if they come up with a paper to show otherwise. Soldiers are not meant to be cops.
Lets examine this hypothesis. Take your ordinary PO1 of the PNP. He is a degree holder, most likely BS Criminology. A Corporal in the Marines is a High School graduate, hardly enough to appreciate the technical aspect of police work.
The Marines are awesome, in amphibious warfare that is. They should stick to it, after all that is what they signed up for. Mister PO1 on the other hand did prepare for a life with the police forces, and as he climbs the ladder maybe even become a General.
Lets look at the officer corps. BS Criminology and then passing the PRC examinations makes Mr. PO1 a professional, he then has had probably more than 4 years of service in the PNP, he then applies for Officer Candidate School. The Marine corporal is still in the combat zone, far from any collages to graduate and qualify for OCS. Meanwhile, WTF anyway is BS PMA when it comes to enforcing the provisions of RA 9165?
The Alabang boys buy bust bunggle. As what was narrated by Maj. Marcelino, he could not even count on “Plain View Doctrine”. It was not flagrante delicto, it was only upon discovery at the trunk of the car. Then again, to top it all, no search warrant. This case just was not going to fly, and no self respecting prosecutor would want to loose a case. I, like the court, would never know exactly where those drugs came from, I have my reasonable doubts. Inventory could have been carried out in the middle of the streets, no driver would mess with all those gun totting PDEA agents. I hate it when “PDEA soldiers” makes flimsy excuses it diminishes further my respect for PMA graduates.
I can understand that PDEA is experiencing its growing pains as it is still a newly created agency, but what is manifested here is ADD. Fretting in congress is just not going to help at all. Fighting criminals can make anyone who is combat oriented easily frustrated. So its best the military types leave the PDEA and stay away from it. Let the graduates from PDEA academy and not PMA run the agency. The PMA grads had their share in the profession of arms, they should be relegated to providing “muscle and firepower only” to the various law enforcement agencies, not leading the entire agency. As force multipliers YES, as blocking forces to prevent the suspects from getting away or getting reinforcements YES but never as Director General even if Santiago was a retired General, or as in the case of Maj. Marcelino a project or case officer, am sorry to say he is just not cut out to do this kind of work. To re-iterate as pointed out by the DOJ secretary “Unconstitutional” and the DOJ secretary is no slouch, I may not agree with him most of the time, but not all the time. I expect the PDEA quarter to fire back by saying since when was the DOJ secretary the final arbiter on what is constitutional. I say since when was Santiago a member of the Philippine bar.
As for congress, they are all neanderthals it should not be a surprise that I have become so cynical to say that they are hopeless, for those that I still have little respect, I am afraid to say I am not associating with them much just so I will remember them as the friend that I had once.
One other annoying thing observed is how some media types wish to project Maj. Marcelino as some kind of humble poor boy rising to be a star, his boss was also a poor youth out of Navotas before he joined the PMA, and for that I am glad they both made it, but I am appalled that they are at PDEA. Is Santiago entertaining thoughts of joining congress? He can tell us all now and spare us the drama.
The DDB. Just look at former Senator Tito Sotto. Isn’t he the Senator who imported a sack of ephidrine during the late 90′s when he was a member of the senate? He’s a comedian I know, but that was no joke. He did, and what good will the sudden presence of a sack of ephidrine be in crafting laws? Because lawmakers are elected to create laws not import things that should not even be here.
Drug testing is nice. It should have been a requirement strictly imposed a long time ago. DOH wants the funds to undertake these tests for state workers. Makes sense, but then again, I have a bad feeling why the DOH secretary seems to be on TV as many times as I can remember. Just a suspicion.
Drug testing for all running for any elective positions, for those who wish to join government, for all those enrolling in state Universities. That there is a lot of money, and I haven’t even mentioned the private sector who can request a surprise. I know how these test can be cheated, I sure hope their methods are not compromised if ever this program pushes through.
Finally, the prosecutors themselves. Years of going to collages and universities to dream of standing inside that court room.. sweating (some regrets perhaps). The expensive books, and then the Bar Exams. So much is invested not by the taxpayers unlike the glamorous PMA types, but from their own meager pockets. Yes, this is a republic of lawyers, but still they toiled in subjects such as torts and damages, taxation, contracts and obligations, constitutional law the dreaded remedial law.
They did not read Sun Tsu, nor did they read Von Clousewitz or Admiral Mahan, they did not go out on FTX for small unit tactics training they volunteer for Bar ops. No simulated heliborne operations or jumping out of perfectly functioning aircraft at altitude. They love the law, and they want it strictly applied as designed, they want to see the system work.
Well.. maybe some work the system no one is perfect, but most of them do want to see the legal systems serve as intended. The PMAer sharpens his bayonet so when he joins PDEA he can sit or fall on it at congress. The lawyer simply keeps updating his mind with all those amendments after a new law is passed. He sharpens his mind, it is after all what is for hire.
Some become filthy rich like my lying uncle at Dasmariñas Village Makati, and some begin as humble public servants enduring a SG18 salary. They aspire to leave for greener pastures but I guess some stay because they love being a citizen of this republic. If I woke up one morning and discovered that I was a lawyer at DOJ, I would slit my throat for not joining the best paying law firm and go to lala land. If I were a lawyer of some fancy firm, then I am going straight to hell like my partners.
I stand with the prosecutors on account of abiding the law to the letter. No short cuts please. Nobody said life was easy, and there is no substitute for hard work in covering all aspects of enforcing the comprehensive dangerous drugs act. Push through with the mass leave, there will be no adequate replacements should dismissals occur. If you are dismissed from DOJ, then you are like a turtle thrown in the ocean, what is that LLB degree, your name in the scroll at the Bar Confidant, and your membership with the IBP for? NEVER BACK DOWN! Or you take it in the most unholy hole, face down on the parade ground the way Santiago et al would want.
To PDEA: “All your actions must be predicated by law.” Kindly drill that into your helmets please.
Sorry, I was just browsing over to find a gem in your precious comments, danny.
Something tells me that if you’re not a peemayer, you must be a lawyer. Either or both. Good day. Where do you work?