Now get the Vizconde killers

The accused in the Vizconde massacre case have been acquitted by the Supreme Court. Seven justices voted in favor of their acquittal. Four dissented and four others abstained.  The most important element - guilt beyond reasonable doubt - had not been proven. In fact, the SC found a number of reasons that led to their acquittal.
I was the Manila reporter of  Money Asia when investigations on the Vizconde massacre began at the NBI. I have to admit that I was initially swayed to believe they were guilty as we were presented with a star witness and corroborating witnesses.
There is just one story that I wrote on the case that somehow gave me a serious doubt on the guilt of the accused:  government's refusal to the DNA test, a challenge made by Hubert Webb's camp. Why would the prime suspect, Webb, take a big risk in submitting himself to the DNA testing? And why government, if it was certain that Webb is indeed guilty, refused such an offer. They could have nailed him down if he was guilty.
Years passed and I transferred as the justice reporter for the Manila Standard, covering the DOJ, the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. The DNA challenge was brought to the courts, with government insistent on its refusal to the DNA testing, Later on, the government said the DNA sample can no longer be used. 
Another angle was the testimony of US officials certifying that Webb was in America when the crime occurred. Knowing their tediousness in record-keeping, the government  should have given this weight. Instead they insisted on their insinuation that the suspects' parents are influential enough to force US officials to tamper with their records.
After this decision, the Aquino administration must answer these questions and address these concerns:
* Where are the real assailants of the Vizcondes? Lauro deserves justice.
*  Where is star witness Jessica Alfaro? She should tell the real story. She should also be given protection NOW.
* Where are the corroborating witnesses, such as the maid who claimed to have seen Webb, the day after the crime? She should also be given protection against people who may have coerced her to tell this big  lie.
*  Will it compensate the suspects for the years they wrongly spent in jail?
We should revisit the case, not for the purposes of seeking a reversal of the decision. Acquittals cannot be appealed. It is the suspects' right against double jeopardy.
We should do this to see who really killed the Vizcondes.

To Whine Sucks!

     The Supreme Court has declared as unconstitutional Malacanang's first executive order, which creates the Truth Commission. The high court said the EO is created specifically for former President Arroyo, which violates the equal protection clause of the law.
     This is a fact that Malacanang cannot deny since President Aquino stressed this in several occasions:  that the Truth Commission is meant to probe, try and prosecute (and persecute?) the former President.
     Now I'm quite surprised that the legal minds of Malacanang are now feigning surprise that this angle caused their defeat. Don't tell me you're not aware that this is indeed a loophole that any good lawyer can use against the EO. I'm not a lawyer but these legal minds should be reminded that they are dealing with the Megamind of Philippine politics. Dapat pinulido ninyo ang trabaho ninyo.
     Now the Supreme Court is saying that this is not the EO's end. All Malacanang needs is to revise it. Include in its mandate investigations on the omissions of all past administrations. They can go back as far as the errors of the Arroyo, Estrada, Ramos and errr Aquino administration.
    But alas they chose to WHINE instead of finding ways to cure the flaw. The President event went to the extent of making veiled threat against the magistrates. "Don't stand in my way", stated with the passion that reminds us of Prisco Nilo's failure to accurately predict the weather. Nang-aaway muna eh.
    There are options available for a reversal of the decision. That includes the SC. Inginuso na nga sa inyo ang daan di ba? Sundin nyo muna kaya bago ninyo awayin?
    And of course, there are other avenues - the original path as laid down by the Constitution: the Ombudsman and the courts.
    Aba'y kung kayang awayin ni Noynoy ang SC, mas kaya niya naman siguro ang Ombudsman?




 

PNOY SUCs

The Senate has approved on third and final reading the 2011 national budget, including the budget for its dole-out program and the controversial allocation for state universities and colleges. The budget for the conditional cash transfer program is at P21 billion, the budget for SUCs at P23.4 billion. Senate President Franklin Drilon said there were no budget cuts for the SUC. Budget Secretary Butch Abad confirms there are to be increase either.

Abad, former education Secretary of former President Arroyo, said government has to prioritize other pressing socio-economic need that is why it cannot increase funding for SUCs. That more pressing socio-economic concern of course is the CCT program, a dole-out program which efficiency is unproven (and to be implemented by a secretary who’d been dragged into a controversy involving supposed money for the poor.  That is not very reassuring.

Education is an equally important socio-economic need that should not be set aside because of a dole-out program. Simple question: who are the beneficiaries of the CCT? And who are the people enrolled in state universities and colleges? They are one and the same.

Let say for the sake of argument that one Santos family receives money from the CCT and let’s say that a member of the Santos brood is a student from an SUC. Due to the lack of support for SUCs, the Santos student will have to spend more, and guess where the Santos parent will get the money from: the CCT dole-out.  Some of course will dare say that government in providing the CCT solved the Santos family problem. That is of course glossing over the fact that it was government, in denying SUCs enough funding, created the Santos problem.

Government defenders will of course argue that I’m stretching the scenario a bit. But that is what’s happening at the ground. SUCs, tasked to raise money for its own needs, will be forced to create INCOME-GENERATING PROJECTS that will have students as cornered market. Either sila pinapabenta ng tiket o pinabibili ng tiket. Spaces, used to be allotted for the activities of students and offices of student organizations are being leased to private interests so these SUCs can have their own money. Di nga ba’t para nang mall ang karamihan sa mga SUCs?

Our government officials, most of whom are educated in private schools because their parents can afford it, should be reminded that SUCs are the only access of the poor to education, our only chance to improve our lives. I hate to sound like reducing this to a class issue. Minsan sakay naman kayo ng IKOT-TOKI, pasyal naman kayo sa RILES, para maintindihan ninyo kung ano ang epekto ng pinaggagawa ninyo.