The highly muscular senator is a tough nut to crack. It has been ages since he has made himself scarce in the Senate. Some people must have forgotten him already or don’t care that he’s got a sacred duty to the nation, not play hide- and- seek. Catch me if you can isn’t a perfect dare or game. The law, after all, has proverbially a long arm.
Senator Roland Dela Rosa might just make it as the longest absentee legislator on the Guiness Book of World Record. The International Criminal Court has insinuated of his possible arrest in light of the crime against humanity in which he was named a co-perpetrator, among six others, during the war on drugs during the erstwhile government.
The front and center of the ICC legal hullabaloo, the globe’s flavor of the month in power tripping at The Hague ( Donald Trump is another gung ho story) is no less than the unlamented former president Rodrigo Duterte whose hands are reportedly stained with the innocent blood of some 6,000 to 30,000.
The unanswered existential question is: how did we get there?The ICC has given its judges to confirm the charges in 60 days and provide the answer to this question. In the meantime, Duterte’s lawyers – all foreigners, mind you, are buckling at the knees . or so it seems. The latest is, the highly paid foreign juris doctors have dropped their appeal opposing the Filipino lawyers.
They must be doing something good. The last time the world saw them perform at the ICC, the Filipinos carried themselves superbly well. Proof: the six Filipino lawyers ,who went to the Hague to witness how they made mincemeats of the defense position, predictably poohpoohed their brilliance. One has even the temerity to brag that he has applied as an ICC lawyer.
The lawyer has 60 days to flaunt his bragging right. The late Pampanga Gov, Bren Guiao used to say, in a democracy everyone is entitle to make a fool of himself. It also explains Sotto’s problem in the Senate and collaterally Senator J.V. Ejercito’ s inaction as chairman of the committee on ethics. In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed is king.
Try as might, the Senate, specifically Senate President Tito Sotto, couldn’t find in the Constitution anything that should stop Bato”s insanity. Or any Senate rule for that matter. In other words, the senator who challenged the ICC to make the warrant of arrest good while hiding is having his cake and eating it, too.
Given his unavailability, there’s no doubt, Bato is no longer an asset in the Senate. In a classic movie, The Sound of Music, there’s a song about Mary that will resonate or dissonate about Bato’s pathetic case. Parts of the lyrics say these:
She’s always late for chapel but her penitence is real
She’s always late for everything except for every meal
I hate to have to say it but I very firmly feel
Maria is not an asset in the abbey
Sotto and company can be honest to goodness to the nation about Bato. They’re not trying.
There’s also a primordial principle in public service that should guide senators: Public service is a public trust. Senators can argue about it until they’re blue or yellow or pink in the face, the bottom line is trust.
Recently, `Sotto was tested by a letter from Bato. In his letter, Bato requested that a mansion in Baguio city be allowed for his family’s use. He didn’t say but it’s apparently a small favor when compared to the fact that he presumably draws his paycheck and other privileges in the Senate. It wasn’ Solomonic but a clear test on an ethical issue of a questionable senatorial conduct.
Sotto knew what to do, politely but properly. How can you allow a senator top leisurely enjoy a mansion while depriving the people of his service he has vowed to serve? Senators are supposed to be wiser than their counterpart in the Lower House. Bato’s letter was a poison fruit and it’s good Sotto didn’t bite off..
There will be more test to come in the Senate. Sooner or later, senators will sit in judgment over the impeachment case against Vice President numbers Sara Duterte. Impeachment is a political game of, not evidence. Most senators are known Duterte loyalists, ergo, the outcome seems academic. The predicted outcome , however, should not trump the truth as facts and evidence will eventually reveal.
Politics is a game of compromise, especially for those eyeing the future with a potential good fortune if he or she chooses the right presidential timber in 2028. The survey is tempting to lean on the popular side. The vice president has the edge in trust and popularity over the incumbent president.
Plasticity plays a role in politics and compromise. It is defined in science as the ability of a person , politician or not, to retain its mold or shape deformed by pressure. Politics is pressure. Our times have seen deformed minds who believe a crime against humanity during the drug war isn’t true, that it was just politics. The ICC will soon prove that a crime against humanity was committed during the Duterte drug war.
Another warrant of arrest may also be in the making and another senator must conveniently absent himself to evade possible arrest. Unlucky for Sotto, the Senate may have another legislator who will not be an asset to the chamber or the nation, to say the least. Tough luck
