Yellow Hypocrisy

Reeking with arrogance

By Rod Kapunan

Manila Standard Today

Posted on Nov. 10, 2012 at 12:01am

What is manifest about the newly-appointed commissioner of the Commission on Elections is the fact that she is practically reeking with arrogance. Grace Padaca’s conduct amounts to telling the court she could only be removed from her current position through impeachment. Many interpret her statement as coming from one heavily intoxicated with power because the implication is that she is above the law and could get away with anything if she so desires.

We are compelled to say this because Padaca is accused of a serious crime of graft for awarding a P25-million rice contract without conducting a public biding in 2006 to a private entity known as the Economic Development for Western Isabela and Northern Luzon Foundation, Inc. Everybody knows that like President Noynoy Aquino, she is also a creation of the mainstream media, by her foreign brokers and by the local elite.

Padaca’s luck in breaking the well-entrenched political dynasty should not be interpreted that she was voted by the people in Isabela on the basis of her so-called sterling honesty. Instead, it was out of their growing realization that they deserved a break from the clan that had been in politics for almost 50 years now. But that was a myth. No sooner after she was elected on the charm of running as an alleged underdog, her true color as a traditional politician emerged.

That she lost her re-election bid was supposed to have served as an omen that something was wrong with her. Recall that the cases against her were filed before she was appointed by this equally arrogant administration. To be more precise, they were filed while she was still the governor of Isabela.

Moreover, her defeat as governor only rendered moot and academic the imposition of a preventive suspension by the Sandiganbayan as provided under Section 13 of Republic Act 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Nonetheless, she was directed to post a bond for those cases which were filed while she was still in office, and have been pending with the Sandiganbayan since July 2011.

Before the yellow hypocrites came to power, decency demanded that public officials who stand as accused for graft and corruption have no business holding on to their office at least until and after the case has been resolved in their favor. In the meantime, they should desist from seeking any position in government, whether by election or by appointment, to prevent them from using their position and connection to influence the outcome of the case.

Even then, Padaca’s anomalous appointment as Comelec commissioner will not serve to bar the court from prosecuting her despite the fact that the position she now holds is impeachable as provided under Section 2, Article XI of the Constitution. Neither would that serve to dismiss the graft and malversation cases, nor would have the effect of suspending their litigation. Rather, Padaca should be reminded that cases for which a public official could be impeached pertain only to those committed while in office, but not when they committed were and have in fact been charged before they were appointed.

Otherwise, Padaca would be making a mockery of our justice system considering that impeachment proceedings in this country is more of a political circus as when the lawmakers acting as prosecutors ganged up on the accused for grandstanding purposes and for the reward of pork barrel that awaited them. As one lawyer observed, should the Sandiganbayan dismiss those cases and allow them to be re-filed before the impeachment court would only result in Padaca invoking her right to double jeopardy to peremptorily seek their permanent dismissal.

As if to rub salt into the wound of the offended public, her arrogant patron shouldered her bond by chipping in P70,000. The Sandiganbayan also directed her to post P140,000 travel bond to allow her to attend the US-sponsored International Foundation for Electoral System program. It did not even seep into her brain that by posting a bail bond, she in effect submitted herself voluntarily to the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan, and that no amount of technicality could divest it of its jurisdiction to convict her even long after she has retired from public service.

Prudence should have prevailed upon her not to accept the appointment. That could have made her more honorable. Alas, she turned out to be another of those power-hungry politicians. In fact, the amount chipped in by PNoy for her bond set a bad precedent, and does not augur well of him as President. The decision to bail out a beleaguered subaltern is indicative of defiance, for strictly speaking, he could be made liable for culpable violation of the Constitution for using public funds to bail out a public official charged for corruption. The arrogance of this regime is blatant as if to tell the people nothing could prevent him from appointing anybody he wishes to appoint, irrespective of whether or not he/she has a pending case in court.

We are saying this not to pre-empt Padaca’s right to be presumed innocent, but for the President to refrain from appointing one with a pending criminal case. In fact, no other president (including the non-lawyers we elected), dared to appoint into office one with a pending case, more so if it involves graft, or hesitated in firing or in not accepting their resignation.

Unfortunately, both the appointing authority and the appointee have the thickness of a carabao skin to be affected by decency, and both appear to be basking with arrogance. This now serves to remind us that as far as his horde of hypocrites are concerned, there is no other honest public official they could trust to implement their slogan of “ang matuwid na daan”, except those that wear the dog tag of being identified with the yellow herd.