Former (corrupt) Presidents Benefits Act of 2023

Just recently, Senators Bong Go, Ronald dela Rosa, Francis Tolentino, and Mark Villar have filed Senate Bill 1784, or the proposed “Former Presidents Benefits Act of 2023”. This bill seeks to “maintain the dignity of the Office of the President and honor former Presidents of the Republic”, and provide them more benefits and privileges, such as providing them security and protection, their staffers, and an office. The authors of the bill reasoned that even if the former president’s tenure had expired, they still needed to make public appearances and cater to guests. Furthermore, Senator Bong Go states that they face threats to their life as they continue to serve the people. Meanwhile, there are only three former presidents that are still alive to this day: Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and Rodrigo Duterte.

In the United States, former presidents have these perks from having personal security and protection to receiving pensions yearly. On the surface, there seems to be nothing wrong as the intentions may be pure. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Besides, they have served the country for six years, so what seems to be the problem with compensating them? Looking back at our history, we can see that these three remaining former presidents have been involved in cases of corruption, plunder, and human rights violations. There goes Estrada who was ousted by People Power 2 following an aborted impeachment trial, in which he was charged with plunder, as was Arroyo, but was acquitted in 2016. Former President Duterte, on the other hand, is currently being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the bloody war on drugs campaign and other extrajudicial violence that occurred under his regime.

Knowing that these crimes against the public that are linked to their names, how certain are we that they