Shaking a Sick Justice System

Our justice system is virulently shaken in the advent of the Trillanes amnesty nullification case.

Consider this. The Executive Department usurped the power of the Supreme Court when the President nullified the amnesty granted to Sen. Antonio Trillanes VI and ordered him arrested without due process, through Proclamation 572 on the claim that the senator did not  comply with the requirement of the grant, particularly his failure to  submit an application form.

The Supreme Court, on the other hand, was remiss on its duties when it did not act on the petition regarding the constitutionality of Proclamation 572, re the nullification of an amnesty that was granted by the joint act of the President and Congress. If amnesty were a joint act and if it were to be nullified for one reason or another,  it  logically follows, petitioner argues, that it should also be acted upon both by the President and Congress.

 The Supreme Court, instead of acting on the primary issue raised by the petition, that is, the legality or constitutionality of Proclamation 572,  opted instead  to deal first with the alleged failure of Sen. Trillanes to submit or file an application form to deserve the grant of amnesty. Inasmuch as the SC is not a triar of facts,  the case had to be remanded to a trial court.

 On that basis, the DOJ, on behalf of the President reopened the cases of Sen. Trillanes, dismissed 7 years ago,  at the Makati Reg. Trial Courts  Branch 150 (for rebellion) and  Branch 148 (for coup d’etat).

RTC Branch 150   acted quickly ex parte, without any hearing, on the information of the  DOJ  which sought to nullify the amnesty granted to Trillanes for his failure to submit the necessary application form. It issued an arrest warrant and a hold-departure order for the embattled senator.

When the liberty of a person is at stake, is it not incumbent for the court to hold a hearing to get the side of the accused?

The evidence submitted by the petititioner DOJ  to support its allegation was a certification from the DND  from a certain  Lt Col Thea Joan Andrade of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel JI that there is no available copy of  Trillanes’ application for amnesty in the records.

 Does it follow that when an application form is not in the records an application was never ever made or the application form was never ever submitted?  

Yet, Judge Elmo Alameda considered the certification strong enough to support Proclamation 572, that indeed the Sen. failed or did not submit an application form to deserve the grant, hence his amnesty was null and void from the beginning. The adverse decision was made, notwithstanding the fact that Sen. Trillanes submitted  two testimonial affidavits to counter Lt Col. Andrade’s  DND certification – that of Col. Josefa Berbigal and former Defense Undersecretary Honorio Azcueta.  

Berbigal, the head of secretariat of the committee tasked to process amnesty applications in accordance with a proclamation by former president Benigno Aquino III, testified that she administered the oath to Trillanes when he submitted his application form in January 2011. This form, she said, contained a section on admission of guilt. Azcueta, on the other hand, the chair of the department ad hoc committee on amnesty attested that Sen. Trillanes complied with the requirements for amnesty.

Between a certification and an affidavit which weighs heavier in court?

We were made to believe that to be accepted in a judicial court, an information has to be notarized to make public its truthfulness or veracity. To avoid fraudulence and to certify authenticity, a document for legal use or purpose likewise undergoes notarization.

 What prompted the Judge to give too much weight to a certification from a relatively unknown DND officer over some judicial affidavits of some DND officials that were directly involved in the processing of the application of Sen, Trillanes for amnesty?

And why is the presence of the application form that important to the case? What is in it that requires its physical appearance?

 If it is about its content re the admission of guilt, would not the counter affidavits  submitted by the accused of no probative value when these are prepared by the very officials of the DND who processed the application? If the form is missing or lost, would not a judicial testimony regarding its existence acceptable to somehow correct or prove its past existence?

The missing or lost application form was not in the custody of the accused but in the custodial DND, an institution under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, the primary accuser in the case at bar. Hence, it is understandable if it will never be found at all. In fact, it is expedient, that it shall be lost for good without any trace inasmuch as the application form  cannot be used to support but instead would debunk the allegation of Proclamation 572. 

If Judge Alameda dismissed the Trillanes affidavits as mere substitutes, what can he say on the certification of Lt. Col Joan Thea Andrade, a gospel truth beyond reasonable doubt enough to commit the accused back to jail?

It is likely that, if not rescued, the legal principle of  “double jeopardy” may also land in jail.

Fortunately, Judge Andres Soriano of RTC Branch 148 who was to try on the coup d’ etat case against  Sen. Trillanes did not follow Alameda’s course  of yielding to the prayer of the DOJ, that is, of issuing lightning fast an arrest warrant and a hold-departure order but chose  to uphold due process  by conducting a continuing hearing  of the case, allowing the parties to submit and argue their evidences.

Meanwhile, the Trillanes camp filed a Motion for Reconsideration in RTC Branch 150, praying, among others, for a similar hearing obtaining in RTC Branch 148.

Shaken and shambling, the justice system still works, so it appears. There is still a glimmer of hope that truth  prevails and justice will eventually be served.

Hooked in the Mouth

Television is a global communication medium, where what you say, how, when and where you say it is heard and is witnessed by a multitude worldwide. Not only that, the event can be recorded and may be repeatedly shown to many more anytime and may be used for one reason or another.

In Malacanang last Thursday, 27 September2018, in addressing new career executive service officers, President Duterte made a shocking statement against himself that reverberated here and there, to wit:

“Ako I will talk to a political exercise now. What are your sins? Ako? Sabi ko nga sa military, ano kasalanan ko? Nagnakaw ba ako diyan ni piso? Did I prosecute somebody na pinakulong ko? Ang kasalanan ko lang, yung mga extrajudicial killing,” [emphasis provided]

Loud and clear and not mincing words, President Duterte admitted his sin in extrajudicial killing (EJK) an issue against him in relation to his war on drugs.

Atty.Sal Panelo, his legal adviser was quick in the defense saying what the President says his sin is the issue of critics about him on EJK. Well, if that is so, if he admitted what is alleged, then he is guilty of the crime alleged, as he stated, EJK.

On the other hand, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the President was just being “playful” and was not even serious when he delivered the remark.His minions in social media picked this up and are quick in saying that such admission is another Duterte joke, another hyperbole. But no sane and right thinking man may consider the admission as a joke considering the manner and the context it was said. And nothing in the statement was exaggerated to amount to a hyperbole. If you read between the lines he denied corruption, plunder (he had not stolen anything) and injustice (he had not sent anyone to jail) as among his sins but categorically admitted EJK.

Na hulicam ang Pangulong Duterte, so what he said, the way he said it (his demeanor) and the context in saying it, is not simply for his lap dogs alone but for all right thinking people to review and evaluate.

DU30 has been hounded by the issue of the summary execution of perceived enemies of the state since he was mayor of Davao City up to his war on drugs upon assumption as President of the Republic. He muddled the issue and remained invulnerable by repeatedly denying and admitting it at times in hyperbolic manner, say, that he himself has killed not just one but 100 or 1000 and that he will kill again as many as 100,000.

This time around, he’s in holeshit. There’s a Cebuano expression that says ”Natagaan sa baba sa iyang kaugalingong bingwit” (hooked in the mouth by his own line), referring to a person who finds himself in serious trouble by his own doing, by his arrogance or boastful act, perhaps. DU30 is hooked in the mouth by his own line. The more he wiggles to free himself, the deeper the hook sinks into his flesh. This is too much for a diversionary tactic from the killer inflation that is raging throughout the archipelago.

President DU30, who is always ahead of the flock, pre-empted the floated Red October Plot against his government by staging a coup himself in September.

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental, Philippines)

Moronic Justice

In any transaction where something is to be obtained or availed off, the availing party is often required to fill up an application form where the information relevant to what is being sought is provided, including in some cases attachments or documentary evidences for those claimed in the application sheet. For instance when you apply for graduation in a university, aside from your personal information,  you have to specify the degree sought, together with an evaluation sheet detailing all the mandated courses you have taken and passed, as well as a certification that you have submitted bound copies of your defended thesis  to your college.

When you apply for membership with the GSIS, your application details, among others, your appointment status and your length of service in the government unit you are serving. Photo copies of the documents you claimed in the application form – your appointment paper and service record,  need to be appended to the application sheet.

You will not be allowed to graduate and given a diploma if you cannot comply with all the requirements for graduation.

You cannot be a member of the GSIS if you cannot comply with all the requirements for membership as spelled out in the application form.

Meanwhile, it is the responsibility of the party that receives and processes the application to check the accuracy and completeness of the information provided in the application form.

An application once submitted becomes the property and at the disposal of the receiving party. Suffice it to say that the application document is for the receiving party to keep and secure because the information provided thereat is the primary basis in granting or denying the applicant of what is being sought.

For an applicant, the application form is no longer of much or any value at all once it left his hand and has served its purpose. Say, in our example, he was allowed to graduate and has received his diploma or he now is a regular member of the GSIS.

Proclamation 572 nullified the amnesty granted to Senator Antonio Trillaness IV on account of a certification from a certain  Lt Col Thea Joan Andrade of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel JI that there is no available copy of his application for amnesty in the records.

On that basis President Duterte ordered the Senator’s immediate arrest by the PNP and the AFP. When his arrest order could not be implemented in the absence of valid warrant, the President backpedalled and ordered his minions to revive the dismissed cases of Sen. Trillanes at the Makati regional trial courts.

Come to think of it, is mere certification from a staff at the DND, who might  not have even been involved in the processing of amnesty applications, a sufficient basis  to nullify an  amnesty granted by the President of the Republic and concurred by the two houses of Congress?

Does it follow that if an application form  is not found in the records, no application was ever filed?

Anyway, the Makati Reg. Trial Court Branch 150  accepted as immutable truth the allegation of the President that indeed Trillanes has no application  for the amnesty he was granted in as much as the Senator could not submit to the court any. Hence, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Since when does our justice system revert from the English to the Roman system of antiquity where the burden of proof in a judicial case lies in the accused and not in the accuser?

 In our traditional English justice tradition, which the Makati court was supposed to uphold, the burden of proof lies in the accuser not in the accused. And the proof must not simply be alleged but must be proven beyond reasonable doubt in court. The court ought to have ordered the DND  to produce the missing  copy of the application form which was in its custody or to explain why it cannot produce, rather than demand it from the accused Trillanes.

What proof can the accusers of Sen. Trillaness present in court to support their allegation? None. In such case, the amnesty granted to Sen. Trillanes holds and is presumed valid from the beginning.

There could be one and  thousand reasons why the DND cannot produce or locate the application form of Sen. Trillanes. After 7 years from the processing of said application, it may have moved from one hand or office to another and is already difficult to trace. Or, it was already physically disposed because its purpose has already been served: the Senator was already issued a Certificate of Amnesty. Another reason could be that the application form was deliberately lost or hidden so that Proclamation 572 can be promulgated to harass, torment and silence the irrepressible Duterte critic. It’s difficult to find something when those who are looking for it are the ones hiding it.

Sen. Trillanes could not also present a copy of his application form, if ever he bothered to have a copy of the same after the submission. At any rate he produced for the court testimonial affidavits from certain DND officials who processed his application that he indeed submitted application for the grant of amnesty. Moreover, he presented to the court a copy of his certificate of amnesty – the end result of his application, which the court apparently did not bother to give a glance

Sen. Trillanes got what he applied for- the certificate of amnesty which evidences the perfection of the Proclamation of Amnesty affecting his person. Is this certificate of less probative value vis the DND certification on his missing application form?

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

A 3-in-1 Response to the Calamitous Econom

The cab driver who took us to our hotel from the airport was like a July downpour in dropping on us his resentment on the chocking economy and his ire to the senseless  people who have irresponsibly pushed the country to starvation.

The people are slowly dying from hunger, he wailed. The prices of everything have flown high beyond the reach of many. The adjustment made to those who are still able is like drinking a 3-in-1 coffee, which means a cup of coffee today have to be shared by 3 drinkers to warm their stomach before they scramble to foray for anything to ward off hunger and survive the day.

Indeed, the economy is in a disastrous twist. The purchasing power of the peso has dipped to a precarious low The inflation has hurt the poor more than any other sector, crippling, for instance the poorest region of the country like Bicol that hits an annual rate of 9% and the ARMM at 8%.This means that the income of a wage earner that remains the same, can no longer buy the same amount of food and other basic necessities it used to do a year ago.  A year ago a kg of rice was around P40; now it hovers between P50 and P60 or more depending on locations, if ever still available. In Basilan, one of the depressed areas in  Mindanao, a kg of rice is reportedly P80.

With the prices of commodities going up and  the purchasing power of the peso going down, the demand  consequently goes down and production logically dips, driving  workers from production and distribution out of job reducing further production and  demand. With less supply the price of commodities rises higher, wrecking the capacities of fixed salaried and wage earners, and devastating the lives of the expanding unemployed and the penniless.

 With the demand becoming unprofitable, production may eventually stop, throwing many further out of job and more families becoming more hungry and angry every day.

For one, the rice shortage is hitting the people  real hard. Even the weevil-infested grains that DA Sec. Pinol wants us to stomach are becoming invisible in the market.

A 3-in-1 coffee can only do much to quell a grumbling stomach. After a while the monster that hunger creates in the mind may eventually find release in the streets as historically shown in food riots and violent upheavals in many countries in time past.

Unless the government and its economic planners immediately correct the course of the politics and the economy of the nation we might fall to quagmire that we may have extreme difficulty of crawling back.

It’s time for President Duterte and the wise guys around him to stop blaming the external world for the current economic malaise. No doubt the trade war in the international arena had sent to our shores shock waves in the devaluation of the peso and the spiralling cost of imported fossil fuel. Incidentally, before it happens, the trade war had loomed for some time in the horizon and yet our policymakers and planners had done nothing to avert its likely consequences to the country. Instead it has imposed more taxes on the people that wreaked more havoc to everybody.

We should not be duped by word play and diversionary tactics. If there is group or force  that is threatening the political stability of the country and the administration’s grip on power, it’s not the political opposition and the critics of the regime but the worsening economy which is the administration’s brainchild.