CRYING FOR JUSTICE

So many questions have been raised. So many answers have been presented. How long will it take for people to understand that the highest magistrate has to be measured in terms of being the prime model for just actions? How long will it take for everyone to accept that there are no “ifs” nor “buts” when dealing with the reputation and honor of the highest position in the judiciary? That honor has to be measured for its chasteness and not by the strength of an iota of excuse that can be found in the laws?

How can a chief magistrate miss out on reporting all of his assets? Hasn’t he honed his skills in dealing with papers especially those that require evidence? Hasn’t he developed his meticulous eyes to see every space in that Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Networh could be a cause for his suspension, dismissal or expulsion if one item there were false? Didn’t he know that even if his condominium suffered from typhoons, but since it is concrete and therefore can be easily redecorated to improve its facilities if it had really suffered from them, then he should not have accepted a P10M discount? Didn’t he know that being loyal to his appointer more than the people of the Philippines is a sign of lack of self-confidence in his ability to be a member of the Supreme Court and therefore he should resign at once in order to spare his future of  being more maligned?

If we are just trying the case of an ordinary employee or official up to the middle level management, sure we can dispense of so many rules and regulations governing ownership of wealth. But for even a milligram of doubt to surface over the actuations of the chief of all chiefs of the judiciary is to already rattle the stability of the justice system in our country.

It means that we can endure injustice for sometime, or maybe all the time. It means those who are waiting for true justice in their own cases can wait awhile; after all, the chief magistrate has his own problems to face up to, or maybe he is signing checks and contracts instead of penning decisions. It means every man, woman, elderly, disabled, and child who have a case in court need not bother too much about getting justice themselves. They just have to use connections again, and they must earn big in order to be able to pay for top caliber lawyers, no less than a former associate justice to defend them in court.

Huh? Have we gone berserk? Is this what we are aiming at in our society? A muddled-thinking judiciary not knowing when a case is unjust or just? Why, what makes the CJ an exception to the rule that they must live simply, that their relatives must exercise caution in flaunting their wealth, that all of them must show themselves as examples of committed individuals who would put the welfare of the people above all else and not of their benefactors?

Maybe we must meditate, and meditate everyday, and more often in order for us to access the deepest pure intentions that the universe is giving us. Yes, I believe that every individual has that innate goodness to discern what must be done, what is good for everyone. We should not be carried away by titles, but rather by that moral compunction to truly serve the least have-nots in our society, and foremost of that is to rid our governmental system of “peke,” artificial officials masquerading themselves as “honorable.”

No, we cannot be waylaid anymore. Even if the case is closed in favor of the CJ, he will already carry that mark in the minds of everyone that once upon a time he was indicted, found wanting but due to judicial gobbledygook, was able to go scot free. When he goes around the country, he will be mocked, and spat upon for having lied.

Sure he would be able to keep his wealth intact but the Filipino people’s consciousness, their mindsets do not allow deletions of memories. No, we do not easily forget when we are crying for justice.