If it’s not the Ombudsman’s fault, then whose is it? And why should she resign, since she’s related by marriage to President Rodrigo Duterte?
Still, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales was fuming. She obviously hated the insinuation that she should resign after the plunder case her office filed and prosecuted for many years against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was dismissed this week by the Supreme Court.
“Do I have to win all cases I filed?” she asked petulantly. “Do you have to fault the prosecutors if they lose cases?”
To both questions, I would have to reply in the affirmative. It was the responsibility of Morales and her prosecutors to come up with a strong case that would convict Arroyo, just like the president who appointed the Ombudsman wanted.
Taken at face value, Morales’ protestations are valid. The Ombudsman and her prosecutors aren’t expected to win all cases they handle, nor can they be punished when they lose if it can’t be proven that they did so intentionally.
But in the case of Morales, she immediately removed any doubt that she failed to prosecute Arroyo properly when she declared, in the same press conference she called last Wednesday, that she intends to file a new but similar case against the former president. It would still involve the alleged massive theft of funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes office, Morales said, but the new suit would cover a different time frame.
I think I heard her correctly. Morales may not win all her cases, after all, but she has always spoken in excruciating English, as if torturing every syllable until it cries “no more.”
Why did Morales not include this alleged new case that she is preparing in the original PCSO suit? Even the reporter who perspicaciously asked the Ombudsman if she didn’t think she should resign failed to ask this question—proving Morales’ theory that you just can’t win them all.
But maybe the journalists present realized what nearly everyone else who read or heard about the Ombudsman’s “new case” did: That Morales was just trying to find a way to wiggle out of getting the blame for failing to produce enough evidence in the Arroyo case, as the Supreme Court had ruled.
After all, Morales had only one job, as far as President Noynoy Aquino was concerned when he appointed her right after she retired from the Supreme Court. Regardless of how many cases were brought before her and her office and what her overall record was in their disposition, she only had to ensure that Arroyo was convicted, as the monomaniacal Noynoy wanted.
But Noynoy, of course, is no longer president. And Morales, in order to show how “tight” she is with the new powers that be, has already declared that Digong’s daughter Davao City Mayor “Inday Sara” Duterte is married to a nephew of hers.
I think Morales is living proof that once you’ve retired, you should stay retired. After all, while your enunciation may still be good, but your judgment—and your sense of shame—may already have been damaged irreparably.
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A group calling itself the Vocal Majority has made a plea for donors and sponsors on Facebook for an event at Edsa that it intends to launch “soon.” Apparently, the group’s name is intended to reference the “silent majority” that was supposed to propel Mar Roxas to the presidency, but which failed miserably in the attempt.
“Don’t allow the death of democracy,” the group said in its request for money. “Cut off the horns while they are still short!”
Democracy’s death, of course, refers to the ascent of President Rodrigo Duterte, who, in all likelihood, also possesses the horns that need to cut. And Edsa, the traffic-choked main circumferential highway of Metro Manila, has been shorthand since 1986 for the Yellow political cult of the Aquino family.
Wasn’t it just two months ago when the Yellows were the most powerful, most well-funded political organization in the land? How can they go so low as to seek donations for an anti-government rally whose date they can’t even announce until they’ve raised some cash?
I’m almost certain that this Vocal Majority isn’t sanctioned by the fat-cat Yellows who have plagued this country and warped its politics for three decades now. This operation looks way too cheap, even for them.
If the Yellows really wanted to show their displeasure at Duterte’s administration, they’d be led by the usual suspects, who’d have enough funding from the same crony businessmen who’ve been supporting them all these years, thank you very much. And for now, while Duterte is enjoying 91-percent popularity ratings across all age, economic and geographical categories, I don’t think these forces will attempt anything.
If the Yellows are really planning something, they will certainly reprise their successful removal of Joseph Estrada in early 2001 or their almost-successful ouster of Gloria Arroyo in 2004. And they can’t do that right now when their usual businessmen-backers and politician-hitmen are still trying to curry favor with the wildly popular Digong.
Asking for donations on FB is so un-classy for the real, “decent” Yellows. Besides, they need to see first if they can make money off Duterte before working for his removal.