Wednesday 21 September 2016

The week of De Lima: Deus ex Machina!

Until yesterday Secretary Aguirre II apparently had less than half of a case against his predecessor Secretary De Lima.

As off today his case has more than doubled, at least that is what he says, thanks to 'Deus ex Machina' PNP General Benjamin Magalong. His testimony on the alleged failure of 'Oplan Cronus' made the House of Representatives probe into drugs trade in the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) otiose, because the whole world already knew that there was drugs use and trade inside the NBP. In aid of legislation the House could have sufficed by watching the Discovery Channel documentary and listen to the expose of a SAF-officer on September 20th. At least the representatives try their best to show The House and Aguirre II had different goals.

'Oplan Cronus' was a failure, because it was not implemented by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). However the planned raid in 'Oplan Cronus' was - and according to General Magalong successfully - executed on December 15th, 2014 without the participation of the CIDG and the PDEA, but with the participation of selected units of the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice. The General apparently is a little bit frustrated that for one or another reason his CIDG and the PDEA were left out of the operation.

How that doubles the case of Secretary Aguirre II stays mysterious until is clarified why the CIDG and the PDEA were left out. It seems Secretary Aguirre is jumping to conclusions once more. Every time he hears the name of De Lima he jumps up, but seems very much uninterested in the quest of the House in aid of legislation.

As far as the inmate witnesses are concerned, if their testimonies show anything it is that there is a fierce struggle on power going on inside the NBP, that some of the witnesses fear for their lives because they lost battles in that fight and that they are more than eager to enter the witness protection program or to get parole in exchange for their lip-service to Secretary Aguirre II. They also show that there is a very smart tactician (he said he learned it from his father) at work, a very powerful man named Jaybee Sebastian, who seems to be able to control the country from inside the NBP. It's regrettable that Aguirre II didn't succeed in getting Jaybee Sebastian to testify. The testimonies of the inmates almost all point in the direction of Sebastian and can hardly been seen as independent statements.

Foremost this probe of the House shows once more that the biggest problem of the Philippines is a very weak and corrupt law enforcement and judicial system as well as corrupt political institutions and government agencies on all levels, which makes it almost impossible to catch and quickly convict powerful perpetrators and find any truth. Be frank, for whom would you put your hands in the fire, because you are absolutely convinced that you won't burn them? This lack of trust is the biggest threat to democracy and it will not be restored by a witch hunt for Leila de Lima.