Many would like to use the letter sent by John Silva, director of the Ortigas Foundation Library, to President Benigno Aquino III as the basis for their claim of a double standard in the country’s justice system when it comes to the prosecution of the rich and poor accused of crimes.
Silva compared the accommodations received by Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr and Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada with the dismal treatment given to the president’s late father, Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.
The president himself doesn’t see the connection even if he and his family suffered all those years of being cut off from their father, who was tormented for e fighting against the Marcos dictatorship.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, himself a relic of the late strongman’s administration, is also being given consideration due to his “advanced age”, according to Pnoy.
Comparisons were also made between the better accommodations given to senators Revilla and Estrada and hand-me-downs given to victims of supertyphoon Yolanda.
But the comparison is off tangent since typhoon victims aren’t asking for air conditioners and cable TV but homes that human beings can comfortably live in. Yolanda survivors are victims of Mother Nature, not greed.
One could perhaps cite humanitarian considerations even if others insist that one is stretching the premise in reference to Enrile’s condition.
It certainly won’t wash when dealing with Estrada and Revilla, Estrada himself being a return inmate after he was jailed for plunder with his father, former president and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.
But as in every case involving the prosecution of high public officials accused of corruption and other crimes, politics remains a factor in deciding how they are dealt with.
This factor doesn’t come into play for ordinary citizens charged with crimes of similar or lesser nature.
The late senator Aquino himself benefited from political consideration when he was allowed by his political nemesis president Ferdinand Marcos to undergo a triple bypass operation in the US.
Since then, deferential treatment is given to officials of high stature like Estrada, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and now senators Estrada (the son), Revilla and soon Enrile, if he hasn’t been arrested now.
We are still far off from the day when both rich and poor alike are treated equally when prosecuted under the law.
For now, though, what’s important is that the officials charged with plundering the nation’s coffers including their lackeys like Janet Lim Napoles, are held accountable for their crimes.
Punishment will come sooner than later.
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