King Arthur of the Kingdom by the River

Hole of Justice

Peter G. Jimenea
 

King Arthur of the Kingdom by the River

 

It surprised me to see King Arthur of the Kingdom by the Iloilo River so mad on television while being interviewed. I learned it was Kuan Yu who caused his bad sense and why he seems to run amuck. But is he really riled by that mess? Who is he kidding by the way?

King Arthur is not a political genius for nothing. For the information of new to this mess, Kuan Yu is the contractor awarded by government’s PSALM the job to clean up the bunker fuel spilled at the shoreline of Estancia, Iloilo, left behind by typhoon Yolanda.

Funny indeed, King Arthur decided to dance with the music but dances tango to the tune of Salsa. He is already in the pot but jumped into the fire. Why only air his suspicion now that Kuan Yu’s winning of the contract was a result of a rigged bidding? When the amount of P87M for the job was almost gone?

His managerial capacity is way beyond that of a king and chief occupant of the Kingdom by the Iloilo River. He had been USEC of DepEd, a PCGG Commissioner and certainly understands the protocol of government transactions. Is the king really innocent of Kuan Yu’s failure to accomplish the job? Baloney!

From the start, being a king of the kingdom he could have assigned somebody or a group to scrutinize the qualification and capability of Kuan Yu to perform the job of cleaning up the oil spill at Estancia’s shoreline. Does this company have previous record or experience of doing the same undertaking?

Is King Arthur unaware that Kuan Yu has no equipment for the job? Is the king blind to the fact that his constituents in Estancia and not the machines are the ones cleaning up the spilled bunker fuel at the shoreline? Did he inadvertently overlook this mess of Kuan Yu right on his very nose?

Deliberate or not, the silence of King Arthur to this issue of rigged bidding has created an impression without affirming the public suspicion that he has also shared a slice of the loot from the P87M contract bagged by Kuan Yu. But as the glaring failure of the contractor has surpassed its tolerable level, the king is now barking his innocence!

Only political animals, seasoned observers and real adversaries can fathom the depth of King Arthur’s expertise in politics. He is a lawyer and knows the game of the wise and the clever that he is now playing with. He also subscribed that cooperation is sometimes better than competition…as he did!

Unfortunately for the king, he cannot easily dispel the public misperception of his involvement in this mess. As noted, he draws his gun too late. What’s more, Court is guided by the jurisprudence borne from experience that perfect testimonies cannot be expected from imperfect senses. (Pp vs. Sahagun, 274 SCRA 208).

Had it not on the dereliction and irresoluteness of the king, we could have saved a big portion of the P87M that Kuan Yu et al, has pocketed. The mere fact that it has no proper equipment to perform the job can already justify the cancellation of the contract.

If the king cannot say no to the mastermind whose handiwork has resulted to this problem, at least he should know that; simplex commendation non obligar - a mere recommendation is not binding. But he just kept silent, thus, despite the residual imperfection, their will was done!

There is a saying among streets-smart that “the best criminal lawyers are found in Court, the best lawyer criminals are found among politicians.” Should we ask a person about the truth of the above saying and he says “I do not know,” there is already a grain of truth in that answer.

Now the main question is; “why did the king shout wolf only when the latter is about to finish eating the victim?” Well, if the King of the Kingdom by the Iloilo River should not be blamed alone for the misery suffered by constituents at the municipality of Estancia, it is because the mess is a handiwork of a syndicate we are now dealing with.

If honest people can only suspect that the king is among those involved in this syndicated mess we cannot blame them as they have no proof to support the guilt of the honorable man. They are only confined to suspicion because King Arthur plays his cards close to the chest!