Batas Mauricio
SEN. Leila de Lima can heave a sigh of relief, in a manner of speaking, because, for the first time since she was accused of coddling big-time drug lords manufacturing shabu inside the national penitentiary by President Duterte, no less than his secretary of justice, Vitaliano Aguirre II, admitted she is being accused “only by implication.”
Aguirre made this stunning admission in an interview that was reported in the news (please see http://www.manilatimes.net/sex-escapades-led-de-lima-to-break-law/281965/), at the same time that Duterte was telling reporters in Taytay, Rizal, that de Lima got involved with drug syndicates operating from Muntinlupa City after she entered into a relationship with her former driver-bodyguard.
Here was Aguirre’s admission, as reported in the news: “The Department of Justice said four witnesses will testify against de Lima and link her to illegal drugs… Aguirre… said the witnesses included inmates, jail guards, a bagman of a drug lord, and some of de Lima’s friends. But it would be `only by implication’…”
In law, accusations that an individual committed a crime must be proved by what is known as “proof beyond reasonable doubt” or that kind of evidence which produces conviction in an unprejudiced mind (see the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of People vs. Tadepa, G.R. No. 100354, May 26, 1995).
This kind of proof requires that the direct participation or culpability of the person being accused of a crime is fully established either by documentary or object evidence, or by the testimony of witnesses who saw the how, what, where, and when, of the commission of the crime.
If there is no such direct proof to show the guilt of the accused, he cannot be considered guilty, nor can he be convicted of any wrongdoing. In a case where the proof is not present, or is insufficient or unable to establish each and every element of a crime, the accusations must be discredited, and the accused could even retaliate by filing criminal cases for perjury or falsification, or even a civil case for damages.
Of course, there is such a thing as “circumstantial evidence,” which is the kind of evidence that, although there is no direct proof that a person committed a crime, proves a series of acts or events that, when connected to one another, could produce a moral certainty that the accused committed the crime.
Perhaps, this was what Secretary Aguirre was referring to when he classified the evidence against de Lima in connection with her supposed involvement with drug syndicates operating inside Muntinlupa City as evidence “only by implication.”
But, come to think of it, whether or not this is really the case--whether or not the evidence against de Lima is circumstantial or by implication only--Aguirre’s statement dramatically runs contrary to earlier pronouncements by his President to the effect that de Lima was really involved in drugs. Maybe Aguirre should consult with Duterte more often as to what the President’s proof consists of against De Lima.
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During the presidency of Noynoy Aquino, drug rampaged nationwide, and proof was my column of Nov. 26, 2014:
“The undeniable truth in the rampaging criminality almost everywhere in the country now is this: criminals have become so brazen, daring, and heinous because at the time they are committing crimes, they are out of their minds.
“They are out of their minds because they are drug-crazed. It is easy for them to be drug-crazed because illegal drugs, particularly shabu, is readily available everywhere.
“During our younger days, when illegal drugs were the domain only of the rich and the powerful, we never heard of girls being raped, killed, and even burned, we never heard of brothers and sisters, and parents and offspring, killing each other, of important government officials stealing billions of pesos in government funds.
“It was only when shabu and other illegal drugs became abundant, despite claims by police and government authorities that they are fighting this scourge tooth and nail, that brazen, daring, and heinous crimes started rearing their ugly heads. If we want to put an end to crime and criminality, President Aquino must work double time to quash the highly profitable illegal drugs trade in this country. But, can he? Or, will he?
“The funny thing in this inability of the Aquino government to stop crime and criminality is the fact that there are many officials installed by President Aquino to fight criminals. As far as I can recall, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. remains to be the chief of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, among his many other duties.
“Then, there is also Virgilio Mendez as head of the National Bureau of Investigation under the Department of Justice of Secretary Leila de Lima. Not to be forgotten, of course, is Director General Alan Purisima of the Philippine National Police who is under Secretary Mar Roxas of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
“There is likewise Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which is technically under Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. Under all of these police and law enforcement agencies are many various operating units which are supposed to combat crime. The recent spate of criminality however seems to prove that all of these officials entrusted by Aquino with the duty to maintain peace and order failed in their mandated duties.
“Over and above this drug menace, however, is a more fundamental reason for the breakdown of law and order in our country, of the everising crime and criminality, and also why there is a proliferation of illegal drugs and shabu. This is the breakdown of spirituality among Filipinos as a whole.
“Whether our countrymen will admit it or not, it is clear that nobody among us seems to be reading God’s Word anymore, and nobody seems to be obeying His commands anymore. Because of this, almost every Filipino has become more prone to committing crimes and are more inclined to be licentious in every aspect of life, giving up even the most basic rules on good manners and right conduct.
“Many Filipinos no longer think of what will happen to them after they die, or where they will go after they breathed their last. Since they are no longer reading the Bible, they have become ignorant that they have a soul which subsists after death, and which will stand trial for all that they have done here on earth. It is this ignorance that drives crime and criminality in this country.”
E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com
