Lady Justice is trolling the political opposition

BY ANTONIO P. CONTRERAS OCTOBER 25, 2018

THE political opposition has practically turned democracy into a blinking Christmas light, or a defective bulb, whichever you want to compare it to. That is, it could be on or off depending on which way the issue is decided — off if it is against them, on if it is favorable to them.

Members of the opposition and critics of the President have been at the forefront declaring that democracy is dead, and that we live under the rule of a tyrannical despot.

This is what drives their narrative. This is what they have brought with them to the doorsteps of the International Criminal Court (ICC), running for succor because they argue that they could not get any justice from any court in this country. If you listen to them, you would get the feeling that we are living in a failed state, where justice is dispensed randomly, if at all. They paint our political landscape as if political institutions do not exist, or if they do, they are all under the thumb of a ruthless dictator who gets what he wants.

And then came Judge Andres Soriano, who ruled against President Duterte, and thus told the world that whatever is painted by the political opposition is only a figment of their over-imaginative minds harnessing their creative demons to smear our country.

And Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th is the poster boy of this on-off representation of democracy. Just a few days ago, he and his supporters were speaking as if democracy was dead. And now, they hail Judge Soriano’s decision and paint it as a victory for democracy.

In fact, Judge Soriano did not do anything extraordinary. He simply did what judges in a system where courts are still functional usually do.

An inquiry into the text of Soriano’s decision, sans the confusing legalese, reveals a ruling that was cognizant of the power of the President to revoke any amnesty that was granted if such was marred with irregularity, and hence the purpose is to rectify an error. However, Soriano also told the President that Proclamation 572 which he issued using such power was bereft of factual basis. Soriano argued that the grounds cited by the President to revoke the amnesty granted to Trillanes were not supported by the facts. Contrary to the President’s position, Soriano found that a valid application was filed by Trillanes, in which an admission of guilt for the crimes committed was made. Soriano also ruled that Trillanes could no longer be tried for coup d’etat.

Many disagreed with the ruling, and both the Secretary of Justice and the Solicitor General have issued statements that instead of filing a motion for reconsideration, an appeal will be filed with the Court of Appeals. It is safe to assume that this case will eventually land in the Supreme Court.

Thus, this case of Trillanes is going to be decided by a fully functioning judicial system, one that would be an aberration had our country indeed been under a tyrannical regime, with which the members of the political opposition, including Trillanes himself, have repeatedly labeled us.

It is a system where a judge of a lower court has, using his own appreciation of the facts, boldly contradicted the President. It is the same system where media freely report this as news, and give Trillanes more than enough coverage to now celebrate democracy, which days ago he had declared to be almost in the throes of death. It is the same democracy that tolerated him to speak to and about the President with utter disrespect.

The case filed by agents of the political opposition with the ICC against the President is premised on their claim that our judicial system is either non-existent and unable — or is under the control of the President and hence is unwilling, to initiate actions against him, or for that matter — to act contrary to his interests. This decision of Soriano is a fundamental slap in the face of this creative fiction peddled by the political opposition.

Realizing the folly of their deeply flawed narrative of a compromised justice system, Trillanes and his cohorts now paint Soriano as a lone wolf, an exception that has in fact joined them in their fight against tyranny.

This is pure hogwash.

Contrary to what is imaged as a justice system that is helpless to prosecute human rights abuses, we now see Jovito Palparan behind bars. If there is a poster boy to represent the horrors of human rights violations, it would be Palparan. But the courts, which the political opposition would like to smear as either unable or unwilling to hear human rights cases and convict its abusers, sent a powerful message that proved critics wrong.

To date, the election protest against the titular head of the political opposition, Vice President Leni Robredo, has been mostly decided in her favor. The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), has allowed Associate Justice Benjamin Caguioa to continue being in charge of the recount, and dismissed former senator Bongbong Marcos’ motion for Caguioa to inhibit considering that the latter’s wife is a known Robredo partisan. The PET also dismissed Marcos’ motion to reject the use of digital ballot images, which he argued to have been electronically tampered. On many occasions, as noted by the Marcos camp, Caguioa caused delays in the proceedings, and issued rulings which were seen by Marcos as unfair or biased in favor of Robredo. However, the PET ignored these.

Hence, it is not only Soriano that has issued rulings which are favorable to the political opposition’s agenda. He is not alone, but is in fact simply representing a working justice system that is able and willing to take up cases and issue decisions according to established procedures.

The problem with members of the political opposition and the critics of the President is that they have painted themselves into a wall. They have lied to the Filipino people and to the world. They wanted to advance a political agenda to paint the President as a tyrant. They ran to the ICC asking for help, as if they do not have a recourse in our courts.

And now they have a bigger problem, which is actually political karma at its most hurtful. Every instance that they score a point in our justice system — Trillanes not getting arrested, Palparan landing in jail, Robredo getting favorable rulings at the PET — their claim that democracy is dead also takes a hit.

It appears that Lady Justice is trolling them.

https://www.manilatimes.net/lady-justice-is-trolling-the-political-opposition/456780/