By Dean Tony La Viña | Sep. 06, 2014 at 12:01am
President Aquino has made it his administration’s centerpiece advocacy to cleanse the government of corruption and run after those who took advantage of their positions in the previous administration. As a result, a slew cases was filed against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and members of her immediate and official families, including her alleged misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office funds. There is another plunder case for her alleged involvement in the Malampaya fund scam and yet another on electoral sabotage.
However, the government suffered a major setback when the Ombudsman dismissed a graft case filed against GMA in connection with the fertilizer fund scam. The fertilizer fund scam is the fourth case against Arroyo to be dismissed. This is strike four for the administration whose drive against corruption also suffered some reverses when cases against GMA were dismissed. These were in connection with the alleged misuse of the P530-million fund of the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, certain infrastructure projects in Camarines Sur, and the P720 million in capital gains taxes allegedly not paid during the sale of the Iloilo Airport in 2007.
Just this week, nearly half of the charges filed against Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos and his colleagues were dismissed. While other charges remained, I feel confident that those too will also be discarded, not the least because I have personal knowledge of the integrity of Undersecretary Relampagos. No government official should be charged for an offense just for the sole fact that he or she put his or her signature in a document. Other acts that show complicity on corruption must accompany such signing.
Additionally, in relation to the fertilizer scam, the Sandiganbayan also ordered the Ombudsman to provide more evidence against former Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo and Undersecretary Joc-joc Bolante. Otherwise, the case against them would be dismissed. The Ombudsman has promised to provide “shocking” evidence and I look forward to that. I must say though that I have always been perplexed why Secretary Lorenzo was at all included in this case, given there is no allegation of diversion of funds by him or any personal benefit. Again, it seems to me that his only participation, if ever, is that he might have signed some documents related to his official functions as head of the Agriculture Department. I have known Secretary Lorenzo for forty plus years, know him as a person of great integrity, and cannot imagine him implicated in any kind of corruption scheme.
This spate of dismissals, actual and threatened, will make one wonder whether the government is merely filing frivolous cases or is lodging charges with very little preparation. It always causes dismay when a major corruption controversy erupts, then charges filed against the alleged culprits with the government promising to bring the culprits to justice are dismissed later by the Ombudsman or by the courts for lack of probable cause, or insufficiency of evidence or worse, on technical grounds because the prosecution filed them prematurely.
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