A coddler of criminals

Editorial

Despite its “straight path” policy, the Aquino administration continues to be seen as being inept in law enforcement or, worse, as a coddler of criminals.

In our day-to-day lives, we see an inexplicable tolerance for people who overstep the boundaries of the law. We see it in the administration’s continued inability to drive out squatters who, by their defiance, have brought a major infrastructure project to a grinding halt in Quezon City and occupied large swaths of national roads with illegally parked vehicles and their makeshift stores.

We can also see it in the crime rate, which shot up by almost 60 percent in Metro Manila during the first half this year. Compared to this dramatic rise, the 5-percent dip in September is hardly any solace.

We also see a tolerance for injustice in the manner by which this administration has failed miserably to give priority to prosecuting what is arguably the most heinous crime of the century—the Maguindanao massacre —in which 59 people were slaughtered in one day in November 2009. The trial continues to drag on almost three years after the fact, punctuated by sporadic reports of intimidation and state witnesses being killed.

At the same time, high-profile suspects continue to elude arrest. Among them are former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his brother Coron Mayor Mario Reyes, former general Jovito Palparan, Globe Asiatique developer Delfin Lee, Dinagat Rep. Ruben Ecleo, and New People’s Army leaders Benito Tiamzon and Jorge Madlos.

The police and the National Bureau of Investigation have received flak—and rightly so —over their inability to track down these fugitive despite a P2 million bounty for the arrest of each. The impression of ineptitude is further reinforced by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s recent statement wondering why no one seems interested in giving authorities leads on the whereabouts of the suspects despite the huge rewards being offered.

None of this is helped by the administration’s coddling of its own allies who are suspected of wrongdoing. Senator Panfilo Lacson, a political ally of President Benigno Aquino III, was able to elude arrest for more than a year on murder charges by hiding abroad—and was welcomed back warmly by the President when he returned after a court dismissed the charges against him. Those who expected some form of rebuke from the President for the senator’s defiance of the law during his year as a fugitive were bitterly disappointed. In a meeting after the senator’s return, the two men discussed pork cracklings at the Palace.

A former shooting buddy whom he appointed to the Interior Department and who subsequently became embroiled in a corruption scandal involving gun procurement contracts was quietly removed—and offered another post in the administration.

The President also showed poor judgment when he paid the bail from his personal funds for the former governor of Isabela province after she was ordered arrested on corruption charges. With utter disregard for due process, the President declared her innocent, and even appointed her to be a commissioner in the Commission on Elections.

With a track record such as this, it is any wonder that this “straight path” President is increasingly being exposed as a coddler of criminals?