Birds of same feathers

Hole of Justice

by Peter G. Jimenea
 
Birds of same feathers

Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Renato Corona approved the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the travel ban issued by DOJ Sec. Leila De Lima on Gloria M. Arroyo and husband Mike.

The justices inadvertently overlooked they are inviting trouble. The TRO issued is a drastic move to put ineffective the DOJ hold departure order (HDO) against the couple. Unfortunately, they failed to satisfy the requirements, thus, many believe the DOJ order stands.

Had it not on the immediate filing of Election Fraud, CGMA could have easily got out of the country. It reminds me of former SC CJ Artemio Panganiban after the ousted of Pres. Joseph Estrada. He once said, it is the will of the above that GMA became a president. Now let’s hear from him again on whose will is this plight of his former boss.

Rumor mills didn’t stop grinding overnight that Hacienda Luisita has started this political mess. The pro Corona supporters even suspects that the railroading of impeachment to the Senate was done in haste by congressmen identified with the administration.

Yet, according to Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, as long as those pre arranged rules of procedures are followed, ( just because some people think it was done in too much of a hurry) it will not necessarily affect the validity of proceedings. And as the rules were followed, transmittal to the Senate by the Lower House is proper.

Besides, being conditional, there are unfixed glitches in the issuance of TRO by the Supreme Court. The purpose of a TRO is to prevent a threatened wrong and to protect the property or rights involved from further injury, until the issue can be determined after a hearing on the merits.

But there was no hearing conducted so as to determine the validity of the TRO on merits.  Besides, it is strictly confined to individual right and personal interest of the former president. Now, what about the national interest of the majority and their right to demand justice?

Taking all the equities of this case into consideration, this writer firmly believes legal interest should be factual and material, direct and immediate, not simply contingent or expectant. But this was done by justices of the High Tribunal, an entity whom we cannot impose ruling or enforce penalty.

Under Section 5, Rule 58 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, a TRO may be issued only if it appears from the facts shown by affidavits or by a verified application that great or irreparable injury would be incurred by an applicant prior the writ of preliminary injunction.

But look who suffered the great injury or irreparable damage. Is it CGMA and family or the majority of citizens in this country? This is a very simple question that would lead a reasonably prudent man to believe that an election offense had been committed by the accused.

As enunciated in Baltazar vs. People, the task of the presiding judge when the information is filed with the court is first and foremost to determine the existence of a probable cause. All reasons contrary thereto or inconsistent therewith should be ignored.

Probable cause needs only to rest on evidence showing that more likely than not, a crime has been committed by the accused. In this case, it demands more than suspicion and requires less than evidence that would justify conviction.

But CJ Corona overtly professes what he covertly undertakes. He has yet to say about the Judiciary Fund Allowance at his discretion. Clandestinely taking what rightfully belong to others is thievery. But look, lot of lawyers volunteered to help him for free. Wow! Birds of the same feathers - flock together!

Tragedy for the Liberal Party

Hole of Justice

by Peter G. Jimenea
 

Sen. Drilon - the eventual loser

 

Barring untoward circumstances, we’ll hear the buzzer for 2013 elections next month. All presidential contenders are expected to have already prepared their line-up to field in the upcoming battle.

One is Sen. Franklin Drilon who contacted all mayors of the Second District of Iloilo for a conference at Hotel Del Rio, last Saturday, December 17, 2011.  It is for the giving of Cong. Augusto Syjuco’s CDF directly to them. What a pompous show of leadership.



The PDP Laban of Vice President Jejomar Binay is likewise seen preparing for a good fight. Not to be left behind is the KAMPI Party of now jailed Congw. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose fate depends largely on the results of the upcoming two elections.

The 2013 election results could also be a crystal ball of the presidential battle in 2016. As noted Sen. Drilon had been bringing with him bulk of projects to the city and province of Iloilo as part of the plan. It’s not surprising being a close ally of Pres. Pinoy.

What’s more, Drilon is often seen with Sen. Mar Roxas, the perceived standard bearer of the Liberal Party in 2016. It is widely believe, however, that he could not be in tandem with the latter as they are both from Western Visayas.

All that he can do is to campaign hard for the Liberal Party’s presidential bet to win in 2016. He had worked with all the prior presidents and he fears to lose this privilege. But it is easier said than done. Foremost, he has to conduct first a loyalty check in his backyards – the Region 6.

But as noted, his local bets in the city have been affected by the non-stop issue of corruption that reeks with domino theory. Add to this misery is the growing popularity of VP Binay among the masses which is very alarming for the Liberal Party he loved most now.

Worse, his two protégées in Iloilo City, Cong. Jerry Trenas and Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog who pompously claim they are still united cannot hide from observant political animals their camaraderie with a distance as if one carries a contagious disease.  

Cong. Trenas should now forget his dream of returning back as the city’s chief executive because Mayor Mabilog as easily gleaned, would not concede. Thus, Sen. Drilon mediates to maintain his grip on the two leaders and to preserve the gained political foothold of the Liberal Party in the city.

But the entry of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada as Vice President of Binay is another cause for alarm of the Liberal Party. The Estradas have proven last elections that they still have the bulk of loyal supporters. VP Binay, on the other hand, excelled the popularity of Pinoy in the latest survey.

It’s really alarming. But the nightmare of the Liberal Party is the survey for the most popular senator. Sen. Roxas was only in the 6^th placed while Sen. Francis Escudero bagged the number one spot.  So there is no guarantee that Roxas is a strong standard bearer of the Liberal Party.

The tragedy of the administration is when only two political parties will slug it out in 2016, the Liberal Party of Roxas and the PDP Laban of Binay. CGMA knew that like Pres. Pinoy, Sen. Roxas doesn’t like her and Drilon too, who is closely allied with them. A torment for CGMA if the president-elect is a Liberal Party!

Few have the faintest idea that KAMPI Party has still followers and can forge an alliance with the PDP Laban to ensure Binay’s victory but, on certain conditions. A pardon by the next president is a dreamed heaven of CGMA and family. And who says this is impossible?

Sen. Drilon who only have a heart for mayors, congressmen and governors is the eventual loser. He always snubbed his lowly constituents and now they are returning to him the favor with a vengeance. The “snubbing” by local media of his presscon last Saturday, December 17, is already a vital document by which I shall judge him!

Roast in Peace

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea

Roast-in-Peace

The murder story of brothers Roderick and Mark Newall in 1987, transfigures the brutal murder of a Chinese businessman, his wife and young daughter that happened in their-mansion at General Luna Street, Iloilo City few years ago. There was no sign of forced entry, nor theft as the police earlier claim hinted at.

Police investigators believed it was an inside job done by culprits who knew their way around the house. The only difference is that Nicholas Newall and wife Elizabeth disappeared from their home after their sons had visited them for a champagne dinner to celebrate Mrs. Newall  48^th birthday.

On the other hand, the Chinese, his wife and daughter were found dead inside the house. As what the police claimed of the Newalls’ murder, the suspects in this Chinese case are also his two sons. The eldest when interviewed that very day is suspiciously acting like high on drugs.

From minute bloodstains found in the house of the Newall, police deduced that they were killed there. But the place had been scrupulously cleaned up and dried out with traces of mopping in every corner. The same idea was found to have been used by the killers in the Chinese, wife and daughter’s murder.

Roderick and Mark inherited their parents’ wealth when it was assumed they were dead. The 66-foot yacht the family owned went to Roderick who immediately sailed out to the sea and his brother Mark went to Paris for good.

But five years later, in 1992, the Royal Navy frigate Argonaut arrested the 26-year old Roderick at sea and took him to Gibraltar. New evidence was presented to the courts in a move to extradite him. Mark who is a resident of Paris was also slapped with extradition proceedings.

Roderick fought the proceedings desperately trying to have a tape-recording excluded which apparently implicated another person and himself in the murder of his parents. Since his arrest Roderick has made three suicide attempts.

In the case of a Chinese businessman, his two sons who are suspects in the gruesome murder were arrested and sent to jail. The RTC Judge hearing the case recommended no bail for them. But with the help of a popular lawyer from Manila hired by their grandmother, there case was mitigated.

It was reversed by the Court of Appeals (CA) and the accused were entitled to bail. It only reinforced the widespread public belief that the CA is controlled predominantly by appellate justices who cannot resist the temptation of greed. Foremost as impression without affirming the perception is the contemptuous issuance of TRO for a fee.

Worse, elevating a grievance to this court for redress, opens the privilege for the few ( if I may borrow the term used by former President Joseph Estrada) hoodlums-in-robe, that sometimes judicial remedies are subjected to “over-use,” “misuse” or “abuse.”

What is saddening in this story of murder committed by the children against parents is the motive that propelled them to kill – money! The Newall brothers Roderick and Mark did it for inheritance. The same motive forced the sons of a Chinese businessman to kill him, his wife and young daughter.

But after the CA reversed the RTC decision, the suspects were released. Though we know for a fact, that even in jail people with money have different treatment than you and me. However, the victims’ family elevated the CA’s ruling to the Supreme Court for review. -

They believed many people were affected by the Appellate Court’s decision. The RTC judge, the family of the victims, the relatives, friends and the peaceful citizens of the city who condemned this crime, hoping that justice will be served soonest possible.

Well, in its ruling of 2010, the SC set aside the CA’s resolution and upheld the RTC judge’s decision. The suspects were sent back to jail extra ordinem –beyond the ambit of appeal. Stare decisis – Court stands firmly by things that were decided on cases with similar facts that have been resolved in the past. If electric chair is still in use for parricide cases, in this one I say….. see the title!

Crying to God for Punishment

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea

Crying to God for punishment!

In 2006, an injustice happened to RA 3019 filed by Atty. Romeo Gerochi at the office of Monalisa ehe, este Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez against Mayor Jerry Trenas (now congressman) et al. His case transfigures the men’s dreams in the song Monalisa, they just lie there and die there.

Injustice lies fairly in “delayed” rather than “erroneous” decision which can be appealed immediately. The Housing Project for city employees was approved during the last term of Mayor Mansueto Malabor in 2000 and was turned over to Mayor Trenas for implementation.  

Bankrolled by the P120 million bond floatation of the Iloilo City government, it is guaranteed by IRA or the Internal Revenue Allocation. The bond was bought by the Philippine National Bank (PNB) for a maturity amount of P125M.

The construction of 413 houses was awarded to Ace Builders Enterprises owned by Alex Trinidad. When started in 2001, the mayor has no say in the payment as Trinidad forwards his billings direct to PNB for payment of accomplished job.

Direct bank payment to contractor deprived the mayor the standard operating procedure or SOP. It means the temerity of a winning contractor to compensate the public official of what he never lost.

But they say that if there is a will there is a way, so, the P125M obligation of the city government to the PNB was suddenly transferred to the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) without the public getting wind of it.

PNB is just two blocks away from the PVB, yet, the paper trail from one bank to another cost P12M as documentation – kuno. Sus gino-o, this could put the right senses of an honest taxpayer in the brink of insanity!

Again, the case for the discovered substandard materials used by the contractor in the project has nearly drive Councilor Raul Gonzalez, Jr. and Antonio Pesina to run amuck. Their case filed at the Ombudsman’s Office only lie there and died there too.

In fact, they have once passed a unanimous resolution urging Mayor Trenas to rescind the contract and sue the contractor. Trinidad abandoned the project but still, Mayor Trenas continued paying his billing in millions.

Despite the slippage, the contractor pocketed P64M plus. The city also paid the bank interest of P17,000 plus per day including holidays for over a year. God knows, lowly city hall employees are most sorely tempted to steal but don’t!

The construction of 413 houses that started in 2001 ended with Trenas term in 2009 without a unit completed. Yet, look at the decision of the Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro – a selective approach to prosecution. Now he  has to tolerate brave words to save face!

Only Malabor et al, were indicted. Trenas is still walking tall sporting a smile to the ears. It is widely believed though, that the latent defect in the decision was deliberately ignored by Casimiro in exchange for – you know what!

In this selective approach to prosecution, Mayor Trenas got off the hook easily than Malabor does. Judicial remedies are subjected to “over-use”, “misuse” or “abuse.” But they should know that injustice to taxpayers is a crime and..… see the title!

Crass-Justice

Hole of Justice

by Peter G. Jimenea
 

Crass-Justice

When the eight (8) Supreme Court (SC) Justices led by Chief Justice Renato Corona approved the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) for the travel out of the country by former president Gloria M. Arroyo and husband Mike, they deliberately ignore the unfixed glitches of their order.

Although the required bond was complied with by the P2M cash paid by the former president, there was no hearing conducted for such order when public belief says it is a must. Aside from that, is the lack of an accomplished undertaking that the president will return to the country if need be.

Funny indeed but the pro CGMA justices inadvertently overlooked they are inviting impeachment for that drastic move attempting to put ineffective the hold departure order (HDO) issued by Sec. Leila de Lima of the Department of Justice, against the Arroyo couple.

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Her lawyers say the president will come back after treatment of her illness by doctor-specialists of other countries.  But the public tend to believe otherwise. Beside which, if it is for the personal interest of CGMA to be treated of her illness, what about the national interest or, of the majority?

There is a widespread belief that once the couple get out the country, it is hard for the government to compel them to return and face the charges filed against them. Yes they will come back, but only after the next presidential elections where a new administration takes place.

This is what Sen. Ping Lacson did when he was under persecution from stooges of PGMA and husband Mike. Had Sen. Lacson been arrested, today I can surmise he is still languishing in jail. This is what the growing strong public perception  hinted at.

What’s more, after CGMA’s doctors say she is already fit as out-patient, gnomish members of Congress insisted she should be placed under house arrest not in jail. Deliberate or not, they skipped the story of what they did to former President Joseph Estrada.

They jailed the former president for plunder when the P200M is not taxpayers’ money but “jueteng money.” The money was derived from gambling which the latter has deposited to the Muslims Youth Scholarship Foundation account to help the poor but deserving Muslim students.

This is the problem if some of the SC Justices easily yield to temptation of greed. Former Pres. Estrada was right to label crooks in the judiciary hoodlum-in-robes. Former SC Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. has also his story of absurd legacy that won’t easily go away.

He applied the crass-justice he has in mind to justify the ousted of the former president - “constructive resignation.” Little did he know that after reading the story of his words of wisdom,  members of the judiciary of other countries smiled to the ears

Imagine buying revolving chairs for SC Justices at P250,000 each? His son has also controlled all projects of the SC with juicy funding. His daughter cornered the replacement of all the window curtains at the SC office. In short, his family has also control of the many projects of the SC.

Then here comes another SC Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban who, during the oath-taking of GMA (after Pres. Estrada was ousted) said that the little lady’s rose to power is the will of the above. Who is he kidding? He’s already in the pot but jumped into the fire. God never sanction a collusion of evil desire. What a shame!

Unfortunately, we have been treated with justices elevated to the SC not by managerial capability but by political expediency. Look at SC Chief Justice Renato Corona. He is hell-bent to protect CGMA who pushed him to the top through a midnight appointment. Thus, despite the residual imperfection of the TRO, their will was done!

The law says there is no general formula or fixed rule for the determination of a probable cause. The hole of justice depends to a large degree upon the finding or opinion of the judge. When money talks, however, a lot of judges have that large propensity to listen. Thus, so many judges, yet, so little justice!

Playing his cards close to the chest

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea
 

Playing his cards close to the chest

It took more than a decade to transform this issue into what it became. So did the media practitioners with aggressive tactics whose agility guaranteed a high level of hostility against top Iloilo City government officials.

The current city administration, however, refused to be intimidated by issues and hired the services of barkers to cushion the impact of what seems a non-stop tirade. But that large propensity to a sham plea in defense of the bosses is slowly losing its steam.

Sham plea is vexatious, false defense pursued under the old system of pleading for the purpose of delay and annoyance. The stake involved in this high profile campaign for supremacy over the air and the web virtually guaranteed the tawdry spectacle that followed.

It redounds to character assassination as they waded into areas of private life with embarrassment. The strategy shifted from delay to destroy. This, without having the faintest idea how difficult it is to defend an errant client.

Try to look at the records of the congressman of the Lone District, Iloilo City. In 2008 during the last term of Cong. Jerry Trenas as city mayor, the General Fund, The Special Education Fund and the Trust Fund has a total book balance of P1.35 billion.

But in December 2010, just few months before election, the Commission on Audit (COA) reported that P821 million cannot be reconciled due to lack of supporting documents or having no document at all. To date, nothing has been heard about the fate of that taxpayers’ money.

In 2001, during the first term of Trenas as city mayor, the bond floatation of P120 million by the city government for the Pavia Housing Project of the lowly city hall employees was cornered by the Philippine National Bank (PNB). The obligation of the city government to PNB then became P125M due to interest.

But when the construction started, this obligation to PNB was transferred to the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB). On why, nobody knows. The problem is the highly suspicious documentation of P12 million. A P12M travelling expense of the document from one bank to another which is just a block away, can drive an honest banker to the brink of insanity!

Meaning, our obligation to the PNB which was only P125 million has ballooned to P137M in PVB due to that P12M documentation (kuno). But the result after the Ombudsman resolved the case has nearly drove former Mayor Mansueto Malabor to run amuck!

Malabor is the predecessor of Mayor Trenas who turned over the Pavia Housing Project to the latter for implementation. Under Mayor Trenas, the project for the construction of 413 houses resulted to zero. Despite the payments to the contractor, not even one was completed.

Yet, Trenas easily got off the hook than Malabor does, creating an impression without affirming the perception that the extension given by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro for further investigation of his involvement in the case was done in exchange for – you know what!

Worse, the story of San Isidro lot in Jaro, Iloilo City, written by yours truly has made a trending history of comments in the Facebook. Imagine, a lot valued at P2.5 million for relocation site of squatters was bought by the city government under Trenas’ stewardship at P63.2 million? Sus gino-o!

I don’t want to insinuate that Trenas misappropriated the money for personal use. But the public must know as one thing we all abhor is not a cheap shot-taxpayers’ money. Beside, transparency was lost during his incumbency as he is always ….. see the title!

A Wrong System

Hole of justice

By Peter G. Jimenea

Wrong System

In a TV talk show “Kape kag Isyu” hosted by this writer, aired live over Sky Cable TV every Saturday morning at Hotel Del Rio, Prosecutor Domingo Casiple, Jr. of the Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office lamented over the undermanned provincial office of the National Prosecution Service.

He claimed that there are only nine (9) prosecutors servicing the forty-two (42) Courts in the province of Iloilo. But as noted, there are many applicants for provincial prosecutor. On why the government failed to fill-in the vacancy, we have yet to know.

Lack of prosecutors added to the delay of the prosecution service in resolving the bundles of folders at their office. The Department of Justice (DOJ) failed to respond on this request of the provincial attorney for additional fiscal on reason that it is the president signing the appointments.

Thus, as the request fell on deaf ears, people with pending case at the provincial prosecutor’s office will now have a big problem about the early resolution of their cases. Perhaps they can now rightfully say; “justice delayed is justice denied!”

  

During the previous administration, the departments, agencies and instrumentalities of the government seem to have been overrun by thieves. It looks like almost all of our public officials have been swallowed by the worst “system” of all – corruption. I’m sure Pros. Domingo subscribes to this!

Even qualified applicants for government job are bypassed by the wrong system of selection process being practiced by corrupt public officials. The unqualified ones get the position not on managerial capability but by political expediency.

Same is true with our criminal justice system today. There is an urgent need to cut the dirty hands of politics that has penetrated it. Remove the irresponsible and corrupt individuals who were hired under this contemptuous “maninoy” system. The same must be done to the godfathers who appointed them.

What is alarming is the existence of irresponsible people in the system, which is basically composed of the four pillars, i.e. law enforcement, prosecution, courts and correction and probation. The danger of the community that comprised the fifth is if these people easily yield to temptation of greed.

Worse, the dirty hands of politics penetrated the system, the hands that had a Midas touch in reverse. Everything they touched turn not into gold but smacks for the administration. True, politics is dirty and contagious. In fact, it creates war.

A retired member of the judiciary claims that few decades ago, the Philippine Criminal Justice System is a knight in shining armor. He proudly showed the same at the United Nations, Asia and Far East Institute (UNAFEI) in 1971 during a training course for criminal justice practitioners in Asia and Pacific.

This Philippine pride can easily be restored without the dirty hands of politics. It can be initially done by the so-called “judicial ladder” that subject all appointments and promotions to a rigid public screening such as confirmation by Congressional Commission on Appointments.

Unfortunately, the “judicial ladder” was taken over by “judicial elevator” which is faster in catapulting individuals to various pillars of the criminal justice system to the prejudice and demoralization of those who have served with honesty and dedication. What a dismal dysfunction of justice!

The deterioration continued as the appointees are no longer subjected to a rigid public scrutiny like the confirmation by the Legislative Commission on Appointments. Now as noted, even the Supreme Court Justices were not spared by the “system” that nearly swallowed all of them.

Going back to the Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, the lack of fiscals due to the deliberate neglect of the national government, gives us an impression without affirming the perception that funds for hiring of additional prosecutors were kept as savings of the government for other use than the purpose.

I fear this mess to become a problem-in-eternity. If aggravated by corruption the provincial prosecutor’s office would teeter in the brink of collapse. Let’s not allow the oppressed ones to run amuck and put the law in their hands!

Asia's Narco-Politics

Hole of Justice
By Peter G. Jimenea

Asia’s Narco-Politics

(The Golden Triangle)

The book Warlords of Crime was written by US investigative journalist Gerald L. Posner with assistance from editors and staffers of Asiaweek, The South China Morning Post, The Far Eastern Economic Review, Bangkok Post and the Asian Reader’s Digest, all with offices in Hong Kong.

It tells about the history of drugs like opium. The most expensive eventual product of this poppy plant is not opium but heroin. As a matter of fact, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has reported the best heroin in the world is “China White” produced from the Golden Triangle.

The two main sources of heroin are the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia and the Golden Crescent in the Middle East. But the Golden Crescent which is situated in the provincial boundaries of Afghanistan and Pakistan produces less compared to the Golden Triangle.

The Golden Triangle is found in the mountainous, mist-shrouded boundaries of Burma, Thailand and Laos. Burma alone produces nearly 1,500 tons of raw opium every year. When processed into heroin, it is enough to supply the heroin population of the US for ten years.

Three months after planting, a poppy seed blossom into a narrow stem nearly four feet tall and topped with brilliant large flower petals with colors ranging from neon oranges, shocking pink and deep purples to blood reds. But the most beautiful sight from this plant is in late November.

Thousands of acres in the Golden Triangle are drenched in a solid floral carpet of glorious colors. It is hard to imagine that a plant so beautiful can produce a product that causes misery and heartache. It is from these flowers that destructive consequence of opium flows through Bangkok and Hong Kong on its way to the streets of America.

After the poppies have blossomed into their beautiful flower phase, the petals gradually dropped to the ground and green seed pod about the size and shape of a small egg is left standing. Botanists cannot explain the reason why but the green pod produces a thick white sap called opium.

Once the pod produces the milky sap, the farmers have only few days to harvest the drug.  In the early evening hours the farmer’s entire families go to the field with knives to cut the green pod with shallow incisions overnight.

The white sap that oozes out of the pod becomes thick and hard. Exposed to the air overnight, it turns in a brownish-black color and at sunrise the farmers enter the field again to scrape the dark sap off the pod surface. Each poppy yields a morsel of opium a little larger than a pea.

After wrapping it into a poppy petal, the opium is placed in a wooden box carried on a string around the worker’s neck. Within the next four to six hours the box is filled with foul-smelling muddy sap similar to bitter mold. Each acre produces only two kilos (4.4 pounds) of opium.

While opium was used by physicians for thousands of years, it was not until the early 1800s when the medical science finally extracted pure morphine from pure opium. Considerably more potent than opium, it is injected directly to the vein for past relief of pain. It was later named “wonder drug.”

But In 1874, English researcher C.R. Wright chemically bonded morphine and a common industrial acid to unexpectedly synthesizes a new drug. The Bayer Company of Germany, founders of Bayer Aspirin mass-market the newest “wonder drug” under the trademark Heroin.

By early 1920s the US alone had a quarter million heroin addicts. In New York City, 95 percent of crimes were attributed to addicts. in 1924, Congress realized that the darker lining of Heroin far outweigh the benefits. Yes, the drug was eventually banned, but the damage had been done.

Worse, when Mao Tze Tung and his Red Guards army marched towards the China Capital in 1949, some of Gen. Chiang Kai Shek top army commanders were left behind and fled to the boundary of China and Burma. Out there, they eventually discover gold from poppy flowers and the saga of the Chinese Triads begins.

Asia's Narco-Politics

Hole of Justice
By Peter G. Jimenea

The Narco-Politics in Asia

As recorded in the book Warlord of Crimes, the rise and fall of the Western Empires contributed a lot in shaping up the drug addiction in Asia. In 1500, prior to the arrival of first Portuguese warships, opium abuse and narcotics trafficking are virtually unknown to Asian people.

During the “Age of Discovery,” Europe‘s colonial empires sanctioned opium to generate government revenues. But after the colonies got independence, the European administrations were replaced by Western Intelligence Agencies, which directed the narcotics trade.

The Western powers laid the foundation of today’s drug problem without the Asian leaders of long ago getting wind of it. Their first victim among Asian countries is China, with a population ten times that of France and Britain and an area twice the size of the United States.

Less than a decade after Christopher Columbus discovered America, Portuguese explorers have already reached China but their narcotics-trade and then later by the Dutch did not prosper due to Chinese self-sufficiency which limited their success for more than one hundred years.

During the 1800s the European powers financed their colonial ambitions through opium trade. It took the persistency of the British to transform China into a nation of addicts and Britain became the largest organized drug trafficker in history.

The British with most modern weapon by that time, established a government monopoly over the large poppy tracts in Northern India.  After gaining control of the opium supply, they targeted China’s millions of inhabitants as the most profitable market.

As the number of Indian opium shipments increased so did the number of Chinese addicts. The emperor banned opium but the British captains ignored the imperial bans and continued sailing to Chinese ports with bulging opium shipments from200 tons in the 1800 to over 2,000 tons in 1840.

The Chinese resented being exploited because of British colonial ambitions. Although politically weak and riddled with corruption, the Ch’ing dynasty tried to stop the flow of opium into China. The Chinese seized the warship’s cargo and arrested British opium traders.

Worse, opium traders were exiled in the freezing Chinese territory in Central Asia and one of them was even crucified on the Canton docks to warn other traders of the Chinese opposition to opium use. The war started when Cantonese officials dump the thousand kilos of opium into the sea.

Full scale wars erupted between Britain and China until 1856. Chinese junks and rusted cannons were no match for the powerful British fleets. Branded as the “Opium Wars,” it results to total British victory. The opium trade continues and China paid a high cost of war reparations by ceding Hong Kong to Britain.

After the Opium Wars, the British continues opium trafficking with more atrocities. By 1880 some 6,500 tons of opium annually were instrumental in creating 100 million smokers and 15 million addicts. Opium addiction then spread from China to Southeast Asia and then on to Europe and the US.

In 1906, a worldwide anti-opium crusade began. In London, the House of Commons pronounced British involvement immoral. In 1946, the House of Commons’ vote marked the end for Britain’s control of the trade. But it has an absurd legacy as China remained to be a nation of addicts.

The 1911 revolution that had overthrown the imperial government only worsened the problem. Despite the formation of a republic, China ceased to be a unified country. Disintegrated regions were controlled by powerful military warlords. Chinese poppy cultivation and opium exports increased.

While Britain made China a nation of addicts, the French has done the same in Indochina. In Vietnam the royal court opposed opium smoking on moral and economic grounds and outlawed the drug. The French captured South Vietnam in 1858 invasion. Vietnam paid a high cost of war reparations. Next issue, the “Golden Triangle.”

Crime does not pay

Hole of Justice
by Peter G. Jimenea

Crime does not pay!

Many years ago, a well-known criminal lawyer was shot dead inside the comfort room of the old Iloilo Provincial Capitol building where the different Courts were located. His assassin escaped and the case was recorded by the police as unsolved crime.

Some years later, another lawyer was also killed by unidentified assassins in front of his house at the presence of a five-year old son. The same incident was recorded an unsolved crime by policemen who were groping in the dark for identity of the suspect-killers.

Everything happens for a reason. There were so many speculations as to motive in the killing of lawyers. But their story as usual, disappeared in the course of time. What’s left behind was only a taint of the sad fate as case related murders.

Rumor mills were grinding overnight that the second lawyer‘s death was on order of a businessman being cuddled by an influential politician. The lawyer is said to have interest in the place of business and threatened the businessman to reclaim the turf as it is owned by the government.

That was a threat feeding revenge. So speculations went-on for over twenty years without any result as to the second death of another member of the bar. Worse, the two cases seemed to have been buried and can never be retrieved again.

In fact, the boy who saw the brutal murder of his father has already finished college and enrolled in the PNPA. He graduated with the rank of a lieutenant. His lawyer-father had introduced me to other lawyer-friends, prosecutors and judges, where I learned so much about Court cases and how money runs the show.  

They say you cannot write or tell convincing stories about crime without having a friendship with criminals who can give detailed information of what you want. The same is true with pretty-bad stories of clandestine business of scalawags in the police service without having a good rapport with these monkeys.

In the underworld, one who wants to mingle with crooks and hoodlums-in-uniform must be wise if not clever. In which case, I always observe camaraderie with a distance and never failed to remember that – discussion on delicate matters must be left on top of the table when you depart.

I was already in college when I chanced to befriend a mob nicknamed “little boy.” Deliberate or not, at one time he lamented over the uncollected balance for the price of a lawyer’s head. He claimed two of them carried out the gruesome killing for five thousand pesos (P5,000) only.

As he continued, they were paid a down payment of one-half (P2,500) to do the job with the promise to pay the remaining balance after accomplishment. However, they were paid on installment basis when they returned which made them look funny to other professional hired-killers.

Feeling they got screwed, he started singing like a canary. He said the businessman is the mastermind. Later, however, I learned he was stabbed dead with a bolo by a killer from under the house while sleeping on the bamboo floor.

Next to be killed was the mastermind. He was shot dead while sitting comfortably in front of his house along the roadside. A motorcycle riding tandem of a driver and back-rider did the job. The incident was also reported an unsolved crime. So crime does not pay?

The underworld in the city and province knew about the murders. There’s nothing significant in this story though, as it is not much of a public concern. But it reverberates throughout the world of criminals and beyond - to the godfathers we cannot command. If there is honor among thieves, what’s more for hired-guns?  

Searches and Warrantless Arrest

Hole of Justice
By Peter G. Jimenea

Searches and Warrantless Arrest

We heard so many stories about the conduct of illegal searches and warrantless arrest committed by policemen against poor and innocent individuals. Prior to creation of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), this mess is common among scalawags in PNP service.

Sometimes we heard complaints coming from victims who lost money and valuables after they had been served warrant of arrest. In most cases victims are drug-pushers who have been caught and charged but jumped after posting bail for their temporary liberty.

Some escorting policemen during the arrest of the subject person may immediately go inside the house and ransack the drawers and lockers searching for evidence. But if they found valuables and precious personal belongings of the arrested person, these are not reported to authorities.

They failed to understand that what they did was not only illegal search but also robbery, putting the PNP integrity on line. They should know that the right of a person against unreasonable search and seizures is secured by Section 2, Article III of the Constitution which states:

SEC.2. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable, and no search warrant or warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

As a general rule, the procurement of a Search Warrant not a Warrant of Arrest is required before a law enforcer can validly searches or seizes a person, house, papers of effects of any individual. The law attaches  to it ART. III, Section 3(2) that any evidence obtained in violation of this section shall be inadmissible in Court.

This might be one of the reasons why so many drug cases that had been filed were dismissed by the Court. This is not absolute however. The well-recognized instances where searches and seizures are allowed even without a valid warrant are: (Warrantless search incidental to lawful arrest).

[Seizure] of evidence in plain view. The elements are: a) a prior valid intrusion based on the valid warrantless arrest in which the police are legally present in the pursuit of their official duties; b) the evidence was inadvertently discovered by the police who have the right to be where they are; c) the evidence must be immediately apparent; and d) plain view justified mere seizure of evidence without further search;

Search of a moving vehicle. Highly regulated by the government, the vehicles inherent mobility reduces expectation of privacy especially when its transit in public thoroughfares furnishes a highly reasonable suspicion amounting to probable cause that the occupant committed a criminal activity;

The others are: Consented Warrantless Search; Custom Search; Stop and Frisk; Exigent and Emergency Circumstances; Search of Vessels or Aircraft and Inspection of Buildings and other premises for the enforcement of fire, sanitary and building regulations.

Moreover, in a lawful arrest, it becomes both the duty and right of the apprehending officer to conduct a warrantless search not only on the person of the subject but also in the permissible area of the latter’s reached. However, it means an area from within which he might gain possession of a weapon or destructible evidence.

But if the subject person with warrant of arrest was already apprehended and brought outside the house, will the search conducted by the police who immediately swooped down the house after the arrest be justified? Much had been told about this but only few of the arrested pushers complained for fear of feeding police grudge.

This is not what we think police business is all about. The PNP indeed is between us and crime. But the new recruits should undergo a rigid training in education not warfare. Lack of knowledge would only put the integrity of the uniform they are so proud of - in peril!

He sings for his life

Hole of Justice
By Peter G. Jimenea

When one sings for his life

Modern criminals today cannot claim distinction from gangsters of the past like the Sicilian Mafia, the Cocaine Cowboys of Latin America, the French Connection of Augusto Ricord, the Marielitos of Cuba and the like.

Looking back to the era of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) chief J. Edgar Hoover, he angrily denied there is a crime syndicate in the US known as Mafia   But Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, then the Attorney-General, strongly disagrees with him.

Bobby even warned that the Justice Department will go after the big boys of the organized crime as strongly as the Inland Revenue has done. Later, a jailed mob Joe Valachi, has sent an emissary to the Justice Department that he will tell all he knows about the Mafia.

Hoover jumped at the opportunity to agree with his boss without eating all his words. The underworld knew that the FBI chief is being cuddled by the Mafia. Valachi on the other hand, fears that Mafia Boss Vito Genovese wanted him killed in prison thus, sings like a canary.

He says real mobsters call this group “Cosa Nostra,” a term used by Mafiosi in Sicily to distinguish their own particular “families.” Valachi added that Hoover has been aware of this and is closely watching their activities.

Valachi’s confession has helped those investigating the operation of the crime bosses more vividly than what they all wanted to know about. He gave them a detailed insight into the world of the Mafia, naming 137 individual members of the organization.

He also described the breakdown of the New York “families” and their quasi-Masonic rituals of initiation. He stirred up the envy and the deadly killings of rivals that “Lucky” Luciano and allies have done to gain control of organized crime in New York.

Valachi realized it when he sings his song to the Justice Department. He knows that in the mess he’s in, he has no recourse to Court of law for legal settlement of illegal differences. Death is the most logical solution to all judicial problems.

Lucky Luciano whose real name is Salvatore Luciano, joined the mob as a boy under the direction of fellow Sicilian Johnny Torrio. While still a kid, he became friendly with Meyer Lansky a Jewish mob controlling the illegal production of liquor in New York.

His name “Lucky” came after he survived from being “taken for a ride,” returned home with badly cut face after abductors has seized him.  Later, he eliminated Mustache Pete, whose desire for supremacy kept the Sicilian Mafia in gang wars for years.

Luciano also became the first prominent victim of FBI agent Tom Dewey’s crime busting campaign. Two arrested street-smarts testified that their large portion of earnings from illegal trade goes to Luciano. He was meted a long sentence in jail.

During the war, he negotiated with the government from his cell supplying vital information to the US prior their allied landing in Sicily. The deal has reinstated the Mafia, whose power in Sicily was destroyed by Italy’s Mussolini.

Luciano’s supreme importance in the formation of modern syndicate crime was credited to his close-ties with Lansky, which sets aside the Sicilian good views of a crime family affair. Luciano is a full-bloodied Sicilian Mafioso but Lansky is a Jew.

He was right by proving his long-stay with Lansky in underworld business as the remorseless and fearless “Lucky” Luciano. The two has raked financial successes more highly than any of their ethnic rivals with hollow prestige.

The secret of a long alliance by a Sicilian Mafioso with a Jewish mob tells of one thing, they happily enjoyed their similarities but greatly respect the differences. They believed that even in underworld business - cooperation is as important as competition!

Better Late Than Sorry

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea

It is better late than sorry!

I was vindicated by the progress of the anti-graft case filed by Iloilo Press Club President Rommel S. Ynion against mayor (now congressman) Jerry Trenas, et al, on the 16.2 hectares land purchased by the city government as a relocation site of squatters.

Cong. Trenas was the city mayor when this land deal took place in 2006. The lot owned by Marilyn Inocencio at San Isidro, Jaro, Iloilo City, was then valued at P2.7M. But after six days, it was bought by the city government for P63.2M. This is what got us so disgusted about.

The case filed by Ynion has triggered the Ombudsman to probe this transaction from where the subplot of bribery came into the picture.  Ynion, however, failed to include the real estate broker, Mr. Efren Gimeo, as accomplice of the crime.

Gimeo played a major role in this land-deal and should have been included in the graft case to shed light on who really get the big slice of the loot. In fact, it was Gimeo who exposed this grossly overpriced deal sometime in 2009.

He even claimed that NHA people have received money too. As to purpose, he has yet to say. But he depicted the boss in this land deal as the commander who saw to it that those who cooperated are rewarded and those who did not are discriminated against.

Taking all his words into consideration, it guaranteed a high level of collusion by public officials who overtly professed what they covertly undertake.  But he hits it right on target. There are now six officials in line to receive the spanking they deserved for their stupidity!

They are Cong. Trenas, City Assessor Nelson Parreno, City Treasurer Katherine Tingson, former ICUPAO head Roy Firmeza, City Councilor Ed Penaredondo and Marilyn Inocencio, the lot owner.

It took more than this writer to transform the issue into what it becomes today. A newspaper headline claims; Trenas Trial Begins, this recurring mess that had consumed the city for years now becomes a good case for the Ombudsman to deal with!

Ynion should also consider the case of Barangay Lanit, another relocation site of squatters. They say it was fully paid but not yet transferred to the name of the city government and something stinks. DAR has a lot of explaining to do in this issue.

A lot with market value of P2.7M bought by the city for P63.2M can drive the honest taxpayers to run amuck. The perceived injustice in this case fairly lies in “delayed decision” than erroneous, which can be appealed immediately.

Gimeo must also stand trial for the early resolution of this case. Going to Court for redress, is a privilege although sometimes, judicial remedies are subject to “over-use”, “misuse” or “abuse.” And this is what we feared most!

Look what the two Deputies of Ombudsman Monalisa ehe, este Merceditas Gutierrez have done to the Iloilo City Housing case. They can only say “SORRY,” but when offended, may prefer to accept money than apology!

If Cong. Trenas is a jar filled with water, they are the small hole under him. The runaround of the Pavia Housing case and the time-extension they gave him are perceived to have opened the hole for the water to trickle down. These expensive privileges will eventually empty that jar.

Some people risk integrity for greed of money. But if endangers to become the casualty, they will spend more to save integrity. Dose of own medicine, as it is written; “he who offends when drunk shall be punished when sober.” Now we see justice in this case. It maybe late but …... see the title!