Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey should add a new act to its circus lineup, considering how Cirque de Soleil appears to have outdone the veteran big top masters in their own game. I suggest the Philippine Political Circus.
As circus acts go, the Philippine political version has all of the features of a great attraction: intrigue, drama, suspense, and a predictable finale.
Predictable. That’s what makes the circus fun. Nobody really dies in the trapeze act (which usually provides a safety net anyway) and nobody really gets mauled by a lion or a tiger or gets trampled by an elephant, except for occasional accidents. Just like Philippine politics. The interminable congressional hearings in aid of legislation never really get consummated with either a conviction or a meaningful piece of legislation. But the intrigue, drama and suspense are all there.
Indeed, you can best describe Philippine politics with the lyrics of Frank Sinatra’s song, “Paper Moon”:
“It’s a Barnum and Bailey world,
Just as phony as it can be…”
Take the recent probe by the House of Representatives on the alleged involvement of Senator Leila de Lima in the multi-million peso drug trade managed from inside the New Bilibid Prison.
After trotting out witness after witness, testifying (emboldened by guaranteed immunity) to have personally handed millions to then Justice Secretary De Lima in exchange for protection, the Chairman of the House Committee on Justice, Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro, has announced that his committee “might not recommend the filing of criminal charges” against the lady senator.
Of course, Umali has a convenient – if not believable – reason for not being in a hurry to complete the crucifixion of De Lima who was dragged through the mud and made to look like a two-bit whore and a big-time criminal mastermind by the honorable congressmen and the new honorable Secretary of Justice Vitaliano Aguirre II.
According to press reports, “Umali said that there are already cases filed against De Lima and so he does not see any need to recommend the further filing of charges.”
“I guess it can be done, but as you very well know, charges have already been filed,” Umali was quoted. “So what is there to recommend?”
Umali was, of course, referring to the “complaint” filed with the Department of Justice by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, a citizen’s group. He said the primary reason for the congressional inquiry was to aid in legislation.
He failed to explain how threatening to show an alleged “sex act” by De Lima with a male partner could be translated into a meaningful House bill.
Concerning the charges filed by the VACC with the DOJ, that looks, smells and sounds like another Barnum & Bailey act designed to give the group some priceless exposure in media. How the group expects the Justice Department to act fairly and objectively on the allegations against De Lima, is left entirely to the public’s imagination.
That should be easy to predict, just like a circus act. After all, it was Justice Secretary Aguirre himself who provided the “witnesses” to De Lima’s crimes and, in effect, already adjudged her guilty.
To Aguirre’s assurance that he was “not using (his) office or abusing (it) to prosecute (De Lima),” one can only recall what the senator said about Aguirre’s allegations being as fake as his wig.
At any rate, to add more twists to the circus act, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has announced that her honorable office “will not investigate on its own Sen. Leila de Lima’s alleged links to the drug trade” because it prefers to leave it to the Department of Justice to look into the VACC’s accusations.
As you can see, it’s a merry-go-round or, to use a Tagalog term, “turo-turo” or point-point. The House, the DOJ and the Ombudsman can always say, “We’re waiting for the proper parties to make the proper moves.”
As if the whole act, by itself, is “proper,” in the first place.
And now comes Sen. Dick Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Gordon has announced that his committee will soon “release its report on the inquiry into the rising number of drug-related killings,” which De Lima initiated before she was summarily ejected by her peers.
According to the media, “Gordon did not reveal the contents of the committee report but said that the Senate panel will recommend the filing of charges against witness and confessed hitman Edgar Matobato.”
The news report continued: “Asked if he believed that extrajudicial killings were state-sponsored, Gordon pointed out that killings began even before the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.”
In other words, if the Senate really wants to get to the bottom of it, then, heck, every administration, including that of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Fidel V. Ramos, Corazon Aquino, Ferdinand Marcos, Diosdado Macapagal, Carlos P. Garcia, Ramon Magsaysay and maybe even Manuel Quezon should be investigated for the possible extrajudicial deaths of such victims as Moises Padilla, the folks at Maliwalu, the farmers killed at Mendiola, etc. etc.
To reassure the Filipino people and the anxious and concerned international community, Gordon declared: “We have established na may rule of law sa ating bayan. It is not perfect but you can see that the branches of government are working. There is a rule of law, the Rule Book has not been thrown out of the window.”
And he added: “There is no proof to show that there is a sustained systematic policy of state-sponsored killings. The President is motivated to kill the use of illegal drugs because he really means to eradicate illegal drugs. But I don’t think he is really going to push anybody and say kill.”
Indeed, why even suspect President Rodrigo Duterte simply because he has compared himself to Hitler in his willingness to slaughter 3 million drug suspects, simply because he has offered to reward policeman who kill these suspects, simply because he claimed that human rights are not part of his vocabulary and simply because he has boasted about personally liquidating criminals himself? Is that fair? Is that just?
To echo Sinatra’s ditty: “It’s a Barnum and Bailey world, just as phony as it can be…”
But, wait, Gordon’s inquiry will result in meaningful legislation like bigger license plates for motorcycles to more easily identify killers riding in tandem, a deadline for police officers investigating a crime to come up with results, the suspension and dismissal of police involved in criminal cases filed by the Department of Justice, and others.
Gordon even went further with respect to the performance of police chiefs: “You commit crime by omission or commission. Dapat yung mga hepe, ginagawa yung trabaho nila. When you omit to do your duty, that’s a crime, pag wala kang naso-solve sa mga crimes sa presinto mo, dapat suspindihin or i-dismiss ka,” Gordon said.
However, Gordon failed to elaborate on whether or not the lack of results on the “investigation” ostensibly being conducted by the PNP on the alleged extrajudicial killings under Duterte’s watch constitute a “crime of omission” or a “crime of commission.”
And, naturally, no one will dare investigate Duterte for alleged crimes imputed to him by such “liars” as De Lima’s witness, Matobato. At least, that much Gordon’s committee has concluded: Matobato lied. Ergo, so did De Lima.
But the biggest Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey act yet will result from the official visit of Duterte to China. This one is full of drama and suspense. And a predictable ending.
The drama and suspense have to do with whether or not Duterte will be able to convince China to honor the Philippines’ claim to the areas in the Spratlys that China has already occupied.
We know the predictable ending. China will offer Duterte a basketful of incentives to keep him happy and give him enough reason to boast of the success of his official visit.
And the Chinese will probably humor Duterte and allow him to maintain the illusion that he has not given an inch with respect to the Philippines’ territorial claim – just like the Philippine claim to Sabah.
“It’s a Barnum and Bailey world, just as phony as it can be…” ([email protected])
