Never say Never!

By Emmanuelle

Same feathers, same bird. Birds of same feathers flock together. Trace it way back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, this habit of collecting together a set of subjects sharing a common feature, or sets of features attributed to one subject, then converting these into popular sayings. Once is enough. Or once is not enough. One can’t serve two masters. There are two sides to every question. A man can be driven out of the house by only three reasons – smoke, rain and a nagging wife. And three of the most handsome sights to behold – a ship under sail, a warrior in complete armor, a woman with a pregnant belly.

And may this writer add the fourth: the sight of the Sandiganbayan pinning down the biggest fish as of yet.

After scanning the papers a day after the Sandiganbayan handed down its decision finding deposed President Joseph Estrada guilty of plunder on two counts, this writer counts three items worthy of serious contemplation.

Firstly, Joseph Ejercito Estrada is Jose Velarde. Jose Velarde is Joseph Ejercito Estrada. He is sometimes one or the other, but he is both one and no other. And he owns EPCIB combo account C/A No. 0110-25495-4 and S/A No. 0160-62501-5 both in the name of Jose Velarde. What’s in a name? A Jose Velarde is no different from a Jose Pidal. Both names do not ring as true and as crystal clear as Jose Rizal.

Secondly, the implication of the penalty. Reclusion perpetua or imprisonment for at least 30 years minus the 6 years of Estrada’s confinement since 2001. Civil  interdiction during the sentence period wherein he is deprived of the rights of parental authority or guardianship over a ward or the ward’s property, of marital authority, of the right to manage or dispose of such property. Perpetual absolute disqualification for public office and employment, deprivation of the right to vote or to be elected to any popular office, loss of all rights to retirement pay or pension for any public office formerly held. And forfeiture in favor of the government of almost + of a billion with interest and income earned broken down to P545, 291 million to include P200 million deposited under the name and account of the Erap Muslim Foundation and P189 million deposited under the name and account of Jose Velarde. And forfeiture of the Boracay Mansion real property, house and lot located at New Manila, Quezon City.

And as Joaquin Bernas S.J wrote, the above “is enough to make a grown man cry.”      

Thirdly, the Sandiganbayan verdict must serve as a warning of criminal accountability not only for PGMA but   for other cases of plunder and corruption committed under her administration. Thanks to Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Diosdado Peralta and Francisco Villaruz Jr., the future is a less bleak. This country is not entirely hopeless after all.

Once, this writer told a friend, that she never will have a cause to believe in this system again. The friend said, never say never. That was, more or less, fifteen years ago.

Never found the right cause yet, but, getting there, getting there.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/feelings/)

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