Opinion TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO
Duterte, Bato are responsible MANY are calling for the res- sent out to serve a warrant on ignation of Philippine National terrorists, were killed by the Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa in Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the aftermath of the strangula- the Bangsamoro Islamic Freetion of Hanjin executive Jee Ick dom Fighters and private armed Joo right inside Camp Crame. groups. Until now, a Cotabato court President Rodrigo Duterte, however, has spoken: Bato has his has not issued arrest warrants on some 100 individuals responcomplete trust and confidence. But trust and confidence are sible for the killings. It has not not the issue in this killing. It yet found any probable cause is, instead, whether or not Dela against those already identified. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Rosa is still respected by his subordinates when they can Aguirre II has been directed by commit so brazen a crime right the President to update him on the status of the Mamasapano at the PNP headquarters. I’m not saying that President debacle. The secretary wants the Duterte must be blamed for case transferred to Manila. I’m not too sure if the families what happened to the Korean. He should, however, be aware of of the 44 slain men will ever get the fact that the police force is justice. They could easily go the one of the most corrupt agencies way of those killed in Ampatuan in the government, and there are town in Maguindanao in 2009. Until now, the cases have not many scalawags in uniform. As top cop, the President been resolved. Will justice ever be served? should also ensure that the police will not taint his image as We will see whether this will he carries out his war on illegal happen under the watch of President Duterte. drugs. *** When Mr. Duterte said Bato I’m not too sure whether still had his trust and confidence, he assumed full responsibility Solicitor General Jose Calida knows his law. He says the for all actions of the police. As for Dela Rosa, if he has President can proclaim martial any self-respect left, he should law even without invasion or go. But no—he is leaving it up rebellion when public safety demands it. to the President. Calida says the President can In the days of the Roman Empire, when generals committed proclaim martial law as he sees anything that tainted the integ- fit—especially if it is to save the rity and image of the emperor, country. Under what circumstances, he did they fell on not say. their swords. If the governI don’t know ment’s top lawDela Rosa yer can justify personally, alTrust and martial law if though I met President him when he confidence are not the has to “save the spoke once becountry,” Santa fore the Manila the issue in this Banana, anyOverseas Press killing. thing can hapClub where I’m pen! chairman emerCan the itus. I know, procla mat ion however, that a police chief has full responsibil- of martial law be justified because the drug menace has ity for what his people do. In a way, President Duterte become virulent? It appears encouraged the killing of the President Duterte and Solicitor South Korean and every other General Calida believe this is killing in the war against illegal the answer. That’s stretching the drugs. The President keeps tell- imagination! The President said that if Coning the police that he would progress and the Supreme Court tect and defend them. The President has been known cannot agree on the justification to say that between a criminal of martial law, he would need to and a cop, he would rather be- declare it. But doesn’t Duterte lieve the latter. This was after the realize that the Supreme Court assassination of Albuera, Leyte is the final arbiter of the 1987 Mayor Rolando Espinosa inside Constitution? Read the Constihis cell. Those responsible were tution again, Mister President, neither relieved nor prosecuted. and realize that the Supreme Court has the final say, whether They were reinstated. So can we still believe the you like it or not. *** PNP when it says it can be made The inauguration of Donald responsible to serve and protect the people? Can President Trump as the 45th President of Duterte and General Dela Rosa the United States has highlightrestore the people’s faith and ed uncertainties in our econoconfidence in the police? If we my and in Philippines-US relacannot trust our cops to pro- tions. Trump has emphasized tect us in our homes and on the he would follow an America First policy. streets, whom can we trust? Under this policy, our busiThe President enjoys the support of the people, a survey has ness process outsourcing indusshown. The killing of the Ko- try will be adversely affected. So rean businessman will test that. will foreign investments here. Even American aid to the PhilFrom hereon, Dela Rosa must realize that he should not go gal- ippines will suffer, although the livanting, like what he did when United States has reiterated its he and his family went to attend solid commitment to the Philipthe boxing match of Senator pines. Will the US abandon us? While President Duterte says Manny Pacquiao in Los Angeles. Last week, he was seen at- he supports the Trump presidentending a concert. Does he not cy, only time will tell whether care about his responsibilities as our fears will come to pass. One thing is sure, though: the United police chief? States cannot afford to abandon *** Nearly two years have passed its allies in this part of the world. I guess we just have to wait for since the Mamasapano massacre. This was when members of Trump to warm his seat at the the PNP Special Action Force, Oval Office.
Bato... From A4 of Senator Manny Pacquiao to watch the latter’s last fight in
Las Vegas, Nevada, paid for in full by the lawmaker. And then there was Bato’s appearance at a recent concert, while the Jee murder by his own cops was already hogging the headlines. I think Bato is still titillated by his own celebrity and enjoys talking to the media and guesting in variety shows, where he invariably explains the need for the public to support Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. But perhaps Dela Rosa is still unaware that the same media that made him a household
name—and which is now picking him as a shoo-in for a Senate seat in the midterm elections in 2019 —will also turn against him the moment he becomes the bad guy. So far, the novelty of Bato has not yet totally dissipated. He is still one of the most popular policemen to have held the position of PNP chief; he is not perceived to be corrupt or lazy and has even gained fans for his perceived sincerity and empathy. But now the shine of Bato’s celebrity is no longer matched by the gleam on his shaved pate. It’s time to buckle down to work—and Job Number One is taking down the corrupt policemen who are hellbent on sabotaging Duterte’s anticrime campaign.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017
A5
mst.daydesk@gmail.com
The ‘federal idea’ (2): Parliamentarism FORMATION GARY OLIVAR LAST week I talked about the federal idea as an alternative system of government in lieu of our current unitary republic. Today we’ll look at the parliamentary form of government in lieu of the current (strong) presidential set-up. From a helpful history of parliamentarism published in the Inquirer last Sunday, we learn that this form of government was attempted twice in our country: from 1935-1941, when “a strong presidency and bicameralism [House and Senate] were abandoned for unicameralism”; and from 1973-1987, during the Batasang Pambansa under President Marcos. Obviously the Marcos-era Batasang Pambansa isn’t our model of choice. But it certainly bears out the flexibility of the parliamentary form, which can—and perhaps must—be integral to the proposed opposite of dictatorship: a highly decentralized, federal system. *** What distinguishes the parliamentary form is that both executive and legislative powers are lodged in the legislative body, which is (generally) unicameral. In the Philippine context it’s a concession to reality, where the muchvaunted separation of powers is mocked after every presidential election when all the congressmen and senators switch their loyalties
to the new president’s party, no matter how small that party used to be. Lifting from the Inquirer this quotation from Apolinario Mabini: “[Authority] needs an intellect to guide and direct it: the legislative power. It also needs a will that is active and will make it work: the Executive. It needs, too, a conscience that judges and punishes those who are bad: the judicial power… “These powers should be independent of one another, in the sense that one should not encroach on the functions of the other. But the last two should be subordinated to the first, in the same manner that both will and conscience are subordinate to the intellect.” *** Now I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that the country’s best intellects are to be found among the congressmen. What Mabini’s saying, with all his profound democratic instincts, is that the guidance and direction of our affairs ought to come from the many legislators who represent our people in all their quarrelsome diversity, rather than a single president elected by all whose job is really to reconcile and translate that diversity into action. Put differently, the parliamentary form brings us closer to subsidiarity: the principle of bringing down the level of decision-making as close as possible to the constituencies affected. It’s a principle that’s invoked in the federal system, which would transfer the majority of governmental powers
and resources one step down to the state level. It is also invoked under a parliamentary form, where the prime minister as head of government—together with the rest of his cabinet wielding Executive authority—are drawn from, and selected by, the legislators whose first loyalties are to their respective grassroots electorates. No more passing the buck or finger-pointing between Congress and the Palace. You make the laws, you enforce them too, you take the blame if they fail. That ought to bring back some overdue honesty into government. *** The other reason why the parliamentary form ought to accompany the federal system, is that this seems to be the only institutional setting under which we can put teeth into our political parties. In turn, it is only strong political parties that have a chance of breaking the feudal stranglehold of dynasties on our politics. As an institutional proposition, strengthening the party system is actually quite straightforward. There are several mechanisms available: campaign finance reform, grassroots political education and activism, requirements for majority/minority party distribution and proportionate [party-list] representation, encouragement of coalitionbuilding, provisions for recall and by-elections. There is no shortage of lessons in other countries to learn from. But what many of us here fear is the possible shortage of political will among our countrymen, beaten
down by centuries of dependence on patronage, to reclaim their democratic franchise. The shift to federalism will make many issues local that are now national. Most public services, as well as the bulk of the budget, will reside at the state and sub-state levels. This gives voters the power to much more closely measure the performance of their leaders, who ought to be drawn from their communities, who should campaign on locally relevant platforms, and who may be recalled as soon as whenever they fail to deliver. *** Political parties can provide the mechanism to institutionalize this new-found voter power. But will this guarantee that voters will in fact respond positively to the opportunity? Of course not. As the old adage from the American West puts it: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink. A lot more work would have to be done, especially in terms of winning hearts and minds. But for starters, putting that water in front of the horse is no small achievement. Over the long run, my own view is that the only way to unlearn the habits of patronage is to get rid of patronage itself. And that can only happen as and when more and more people are empowered by rising prosperity to think for themselves. But that’s another story for a future column. Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com
More on the ‘Comeleak’ exposé HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA IT’S about time that Andres Bautista, the Commission on Elections chairman, is held to account for anomalies committed by the poll body during his watch. In March 2016, the Comelec data bank was hacked by outsiders in a data breach that compromised almost 77 million voter registration records, including voters’ full names, addresses, passport entries, birthdates, and other personal information. Observers call this anomaly the biggest breach of a government-controlled data base. This scandal was brought to the attention of the National Privacy Commission which, after a thorough investigation, found that the wholesale data breach was the result of Bautista’s gross negligence as contemplated in Republic Act No. 10173, otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012. In addition, the privacy commission recommended the criminal prosecution of Bautista for his gross negligence. It was reported in the news media that the evidence against Bautista had been turned over by the privacy commission to the Department of Justice. Bautista played down this recent irregularity by claiming that he merely relied on the advice and recommendations of information technology experts in matters which were beyond the scope of his expertise. What hogwash! If the excuse offered by Bautista is to be sustained, then public interest will be compromised wholesale. Following the
Three... From A4 in utter disregard of the rights of the very people whom they are supposed to serve. There is something seriously wrong when salvaging and extra-judicial killings become part of the so-called legitimate police operations. There is something wrong when police and criminals alike take advantage of the war on drugs to cover their tracks or perpetrate their evil agenda. There is something wrong when due process of law is ignored to punish or enforce laws, or state policy. Finally, there is everything wrong when the sacrosanct principles of justice, respect for the rule of law and accountability are swept under the rug by the state to in furtherance of dubious state policies. Of course, after all is said and done, the buck stops with the President. The thousands of victims, robbed of their humanity and of justice, will be the responsibility principally of the President and, secondarily, of his henchmen, including the Chief PNP. Without diminishing the role of the President, I emphasize that Bato dela Rosa plays an essential if not a pivotal role in enforcing state policies on peace, order and security. He
Bautista excuse, all that the head of an administrative or quasi-judicial body similar to the Comelec will need to do, to escape criminal liability, is to hire so-called “advisers” (paid at taxpayers’ expense) and claim that he merely followed their “advice” in a matter beyond his expertise. Good grief! Despite its status as a constitutional commission, the Comelec is still a government body and its top official is still subject to public accountability. This means that at the end of the day, the Comelec chairman must own up to “Comeleak.” Although the Constitution provides that the Comelec chairman may be removed from office only by impeachment, there is no legal impediment to an investigation of the wrongdoing attributable to him. In other words, Bautista must answer for “Comeleak,” and if his alleged “advisers” really exist, then those advisers ought to be prosecuted as well. After all, these advisers are not in the Constitution’s list of officials removal only by impeachment. If these officials are not Comelec officials, but they received compensation from the Comelec anyway, jurisprudence posits that they can still be subject to criminal prosecution. Evidently, not only must Bautista face the music; He must identify those “advisers” whose advice and recommendation triggered him to let “Comeleak” happen. The problem does not end there. Since millions of voters lost their private data to hackers, they are entitled to seek damages against Bautista and his cabal. A class suit and some complaints in intervention against them should teach the Comelec and other government agencies which handle confidential data obtained from private citizens
to be more prudent in handling such information. So far, the government is on the defensive on issues relating to privacy rights. Just recently, the Supreme Court upheld the right of a law firm to fair play regarding the privacy of its bank accounts, despite the law against money laundering. The foregoing pronouncement of the Supreme Court and the recent findings of the privacy commission against Bautista are tell-tale warnings to some telecommunications companies which share the mobile phone numbers of their subscribers to business enterprises who text unsolicited promotional materials to those numbers. Requests from subsribers for a halt to this irritating practice are summarily ignored by management. Perhaps the requests will now be entertained in the light of these recent developments in the legal realm. Bautista has taken a dismissive attitude towards “Comeleak” in the same way that he summarily ignores serious complaints regarding the Comelec’s blatant disregard of both the election laws and the rules of elementary fairness. For example, Bautista has not provided a satisfactory explanation as to why the Comelec billeted several foreign executives of Smartmatic (the foreign service provider of the automated counting machines used in the May 2016 polls) at the Novotel Hotel at the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City days before and during the actual canvass of the elections. This is a serious issue because Novotel is owned by the family of Mar Roxas, who was then running for president under the pro-Aquino administration Liberal Party (LP), and moreso because the LP national campaign headquarters are
located at Novotel. Other questions linger. Who paid for the Novotel expenses of the foreign Smartmatic executives? If Bautista’s Comelec paid for it, was this expenditure of taxpayer money subjected to public bidding as required by law? The Comelec mouthpiece says that the foreign Smartmatic executives were to assist in the actual election. How is this possible when the Constitution prohibits aliens from interfering in Philippine elections? Since the nerve center of the national canvass was located at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, why weren’t these foreign Smartmatic executives billeted at any of the numerous hotels near the PICC? Sofitel is just beside the PICC. Novotel is far off in Cubao, Quezon City. Remember the news story which revealed that several voting machines were kept at Novotel prior to election day and on the election day itself? Although Bautista went to the hotel to supposedly investigate the incident, Novotel management merely allowed him to inspect a few hotel rooms pre-selected by the hotel management, and kept many other rooms uninspected. After his sloppy investigation, Bautista paid no further attention to this irregularity. Recently, the Comelec hinted that it failed to obtain sufficient funds for the recount of the votes in the election protest filed by vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. before the Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. Perhaps Bautista intends to use the administrative incompetence of his agency as a possible ground to dismiss the Marcos election protest. If that is so, another explanation from him is due.
may well be responsible for its consequences. The recent occurrence in Camp Crame and the runaway cases of EJKs are patent reasons for the Chief PNP to resign. As said by Speaker Alvarez, even Bato’s subordinates have lost respect for him if they have the temerity to do their crimes at the very heart of the PNP. In this case, as Representative Harry Roque is quoted to have observed, the Philippine government is internationally liable as well. From a human rights point of view, this is also a breakthrough in the investigation of extrajudicial killings. The smoking gun is the testimony that the policeman-turnedwitness thought it was a legitimate operation. Strangling a person in a car in Camp Crame can never be a legitimate operation in the same way that killing a young man sleeping in a shanty can never be a legitimate operation. It’s seems also now to be a pattern —“tokhang for ransom.” Teresita Ang See of the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order knows of several Chinese nationals who have become victims of the scheme and in all cases paid ransom in exchange for not facing drug-related charges, though they were not in fact involved in illegal drugs. It’s systematic, the infestation of criminal elements and corruption
in the Philippine National Police. For the record, not all officers are tainted and I personally know good and honorable men in police uniform. But even they have always told me that there are bad eggs in their agency. But like in the Bureau of Customs, those bad eggs become bolder when they think they can get away with it. That is what happened here. It must also be said that criminality and corruption have been systematic for a long time in the PNP, even before the Duterte administration —in fact, long before. But I fear it will become worse because the police, in the war against drugs, have been given absolute immunity and total power. And what do you expect when you give absolute power to the agency that has so many corrupt and criminal elements? Sadly, even the ones who are upright are also now being corrupted. By giving them license to kill pushers and addicts even when clearly illegal, they too are tainted. The price that our police agency and police officials are already paying and will pay in the future for what is happening now will be enormous. Aside from facing multiple human rights cases, reversing the culture of noncompliance with the law will be very difficult. I actually like General Bato. I thought he, having a doctorate, had
both vision and strategy. I even appreciate his showbiz antics as they seem endearing, making him an effective communicator. Being from Mindanao myself, I badly want Bato and President Duterte to succeed. But with the three crimes committed in Crame, Bato has lost the respect of his peers in the police and the military. And the public, minus the die-hard supporters, will no longer believe anything he says. Tokhang now will be forever attached to ransom and murder; the war against illegal drugs is now clearly transformed as the opportunity for criminal elements in the police to make money. Telling the police to kill the criminals, because that means police officers killing each other, cannot solve this. They won’t do that. They are classmates in the Philippine Military Academy or the Philippine National Police Academy, and classmates don’t turn against each other. Three crimes were committed in Crame. Most likely, these three crimes were not the first time and were not stand-alone. Most likely, they will be repeated. Think about that and where that will lead the country. Facebook: deantonylavs Twitter: tonylavs