Change will come. That was incoming President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign slogan in the recently concluded elections. It is also a statement against the corruption and incompetence characterizing the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.
Duterte also promised to act on cases against pro-Aquino officials which the investigation and prosecution agencies of the Aquino administration conveniently ignored or deliberately left unacted upon. That promise is an indictment that the Aquino administration actually implements a selective system of justice designed to protect palace allies and to persecute palace enemies.
It will be recalled that political personalities considered hostile by the Aquino regime have been quickly dealt with by the government. Examples include ex-Makati City Mayor Jun-Jun Binay, who was unseated from city hall, and incumbent Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Ramon Revilla, Jr., who were detained and prevented from attending sessions in the Senate.
Having been elected to the presidency by an overwhelming majority, Duterte must make good on his campaign promises.
For starters, Duterte should look into the many graft cases filed against Aquino Cabinet members and staunch political allies years ago, but which remain pending or unacted upon in the Office of the Ombudsman or related agencies.
Take the case of ex-Makati City vice mayor Ernesto Mercado, an Aquino ally who provided evidence against Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son, then Makati City Mayor Jun-Jun Binay, in a Senate investigation concerning the controversial, overpriced parking building constructed near the Makati City Hall. Mercado testified that commissions were illegally given to key city officials, including the two Binays, by the contractor of the parking building. In addition, Mercado categorically admitted that he had received an estimated P80 million as his share of the bribe money allotted for the construction project.
Criminal cases were eventually filed against the Binays and several officials of Makati. Surprisingly, however, Mercado was not charged, despite his admission of having received bribe money.
In view of the unwarranted special treatment extended to Mercado, public interest advocate Louis “Barok” Biraogo filed a separate case for plunder against Mercado before the Ombudsman. That was more than two years ago. Biraogo revealed that as of this writing, he has not received any notice or resolution from the Ombudsman regarding the plunder case.
Back in 2013, it was discovered in a Senate investigation that P136 billion in the Malampaya natural gas find was missing. Then-National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon, together with Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, testified that the said amount could not be specifically accounted for. Armed with a transcript of their testimonies, Biraogo filed criminal charges against the three officials before the Ombudsman in January 2014.
It appears that Biraogo’s complaint was later referred to the Commission on Audit for appropriate action, but as of this writing, the CoA has not yet acted on the case.
Equally disturbing is the case involving Negros Oriental Representative Jocelyn Limkaichong of the pro-Aquino Liberal Party. In 2013, two complainants filed plunder raps against Limkaichong and her husband Lawrence Limkaichong, who was the mayor of the municipality of La Libertad of the same province. According to the complaint, Jocelyn Limkaichong illegally channeled her pork barrel funds to La Libertad, and that measures were taken to enable her husband to spend the funds likewise illegally.
Documents accompanying the complaint indicate that from 2007 up to 2013, some P220 million was released by the Department of Budget and Management to La Libertad, and that the money was distributed among different barangay captains outside of La Libertad but within the Limkaichong congressional district.
It is also alleged that the checks given to the barangay captains were payable to the officials themselves, and not to the barangay, and that one barangay captain used his share to buy a vehicle which he registered in his name. Another allegation has it that the funds were used to purchase vehicles for the barangays, but the vehicles turned out to be used ones which were passed off as brand new.
The plunder case against the Limkaichongs were filed in the Visayas office of the Ombudsman. According to the complainants, the case remains unacted upon by a certain Paul Clemente, an alleged appointee of President Aquino.
So far, the complainants are optimistic that under the Duterte administration, the plunder case will be resolved once and for all. Their only fear is that if the Limkaichongs join or affiliate themselves with the PDP Laban, the plunder case may remain unresolved.
Duterte also promised to look into anomalies possibly committed by key officials of the Aquino administration. He can start with Senator-elect Leila de Lima, who has been repeatedly critical of a Duterte presidency.
When De Lima was the secretary of Justice, it was discovered that the drug lords in the New Bilibid Prison were given extraordinarily special treatment and privileges, consisting of catered restaurant food, air-conditioned quarters, sauna facilities, access to computers and telephones, and many others.
Likewise, De Lima should be investigated for joining the government junket to The Hague, in Holland, to attend the hearing in the arbitration case the Philippines lodged against Communist China for the latter’s expansionist activities in the West Philippine Sea. De Lima obviously had no role in that hearing because the country was already sufficiently represented by lawyers with acknowledged expertise in Public International Law. As the secretary of Justice, De Lima had no involvement in what was obviously the exclusive concern of the foreign affairs and national defense departments of the Philippine government.
The CoA also reported that under De Lima, the Department of Justice spent public funds earmarked for a particular project, for another purpose.
Before De Lima decides to hit Duterte again, she should engage in some introspect and explain to the public why numerous anomalies took place in the DoJ during her watch.
