Otherwise Maladroit

14 January 1999 Pilate

14 January 1999

Pilate

The Echegaray issue is a withering look into our laughably disorganized government. It should have been simple: the Legislative produces a bill to be approved by the Executive branch, and when it is so, it is made into a law, a part of the constitution, to be executed by the Judicial branch. Period.

The law is immediately, and irrevocably applicable the moment it is scheduled to be in effect. The decision of the state, especially one that took years to evaluate, must be implemented no matter how morally adverse it is.

To further elaborate, the law, after passing through all the processes to make it a law, is like food already digested and ready to be disposed off. It is impossible (not to mention disgusting) to recall waste (faeces) on its way out of the anus into the toilet. Apparently, nothing is impossible in the Philippines.

Members of the Supreme Court that voted for the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) probably panicked that fingers were to be pointed at them, so they scrambled to wash their hands over the issue. When one is guilty of innumerable wrongs, time will come that he would not be able to distinguish if the fingers pointed at him are good, or bad. Fingers pointed is immediately equated with guilt. Thus the dilemma of our "wonderful" justice system, which is probably jumpy after being exposed for corruption.

My advice? Get a spine.

"Promises are made to be broken" is quite a popular tune of the members of our administrative body. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with Value Added Tax (VAT), Joseph Estrada with Land Reform, Imelda "the Iron Butterfly" Marcos with Our Money, and assurances of a "Better Tomorrow" come every election. It, the TRO, reminds me of an issue about Cardinal Sin, who after supporting the candidacy of a presidential bet, voted for one of that candidate's opponent come election day. Divine enlightenment was apparently the reason.

Close at the Cardinal's heels is the issue of the Catholic Church's ability to sway the application of the Death Penalty. The close-quarters of Church and State in the Philippines is again distracting the public from its conviction. And that conviction was to stop tolerating crimes, such as the one Leo Echegaray committed.

Homilies are being peppered with State issues again, as with every issue that the Church gets entangled (or meddle) in. Pleas for mercy, and stern lectures of God's omnipotence were all I got last Sunday, and I suspect for many more Sundays to come until the issue is settled or forgotten. What is the big fuss anyway? Would God really notice this little situation of ours, considering that from description, we are ant-like in proportion to His vastness? And anyway, has not God taken life for lesser things? What about that woman who turned into a pillar of salt just for glancing back at Sodom and Gomorrah? The Catholic Church itself is not free from guilt. The Inquisition, the Crusades, and the Holocaust, which in a weird, twisted way was somehow connected to the Church.

Incest, is an ugly thought, word, and deed. An idea that repulses any decent, Christian human being. Yet it is here and abounds in the "only Catholic nation" of Asia. How will the Church answer to that?

Furthermore, this issue lessens the magnitude and reliability of our government, whose reputation needs primping. If the Philippine government cannot hold its own with national concerns, then how would the international audience view it? The State would undoubtedly be seen as structurally weak, maybe even pathetic. A law is a law, there should be no "buts" or "ifs".

But what am I talking about? I am living in a country that has laws against the monopoly of lands, and lands monopolized by those who passed those laws. Of course there are "buts" and "ifs"...especially in the Philippines.

Our dear Mr. President, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, saved his hide by being backed by Bro. Mike and the rest of the El Shaddai. It is a good thing that he has that scalp swinging from his belt, or he would be torn between two lovers. No, not Nora Aunor and Dra. Loi, but the wagging index finger of the Church and the Masses thirsting for justice and a little blood.

As for the convicted himself, this situation, the restlessness of not knowing if the noose is near his neck, is ironically probably his worst punishment. He probably never sleeps, knowing that his life is hanging by the hairs of his nose.

posted by Otherwise Maladroit @ 5:12 PM