Fear of Duterte gov’t eroding

Batas Mauricio

IF Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez wants smuggling to slow down or completely stop in the Philippines, he must endeavor to make an inventory of all smuggling cases being investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ), and then publicly disclose the status of each one of them, including those who have been accused of the crime, and how much taxes they avoided paying.

That way, we can be assured that the cases are being earnestly probed and prosecuted, and are not being manipulated by anyone, for the purpose of setting the smugglers free from liability. The problem right now is that the investigation of smuggling cases is shrouded in utmost secrecy, with the participation of government officials yet.

The disclosure I am seeking here should also make public the details about the dates when smuggling was supposed to have been committed, as well as the dates that cases were filed with the DOJ, and the status of each of the cases–whether or not cases had been filed in court. The names of the smugglers must also be disclosed, of course!

• •

The erosion of the Fillipino’s fear of the Duterte government is taking place very fast and, if President Duterte and his boys will not pay serious attention to it, it could happen that many of our countrymen who have been accustomed to routinely doing crimes before Duterte came in, and who slowed down with their old nefarious ways after he took office, are now back with a vengeance.

Indeed, there was much fear hereabouts shortly before and after the President was sworn in on June 30, 2016. Consequently, many drug addicts and small time pushers literally fell one over the other in surrendering to the authorities, for fear of being killed. Also, an eerie silence akin to that when martial law under President Marcos was just declared pervaded many places after the Duterte oath taking.

Many Filipinos got very happy with this, and hailed what was happening during the first few days of the Duterte presidency as the advent of the change that was promised during the campaign. Yet, at this point, there is a perceptible return to criminality and disorder in many places, fueled by a growing perception that Duterte could not really monitor what is happening around.

Let me cite just a few examples. When Duterte was installed president, many truckers, truck owners, and operators whose trucks have been passing through Northbay Boulevard, from its northern tip in Malabon to its southern part in Manila, dutifully observed the longunning truck ban. This meant that trucks did not pass through Northbay Blvd. before 10 a.m. on any given day after Duterte came in.

Also, the slimy-looking characters who had been extorting money from truck drivers violating the truck ban along the same Northbay Blvd., disappeared from the scene, after Duterte’s inauguration. But both the trucks running while the truck ban was still in effect, and the extortionists plying their trade in Northbay Blvd., have returned, and so are the policemen and traffic aides who are known to coddle the bad eggs in the area.

What gave them the renewed “bravery’ to violate the truck ban and proceed with their extortionate ways once again? It could only be the removal of their fear that they could be caught and then punished under the Duterte presidency. It is exciting to ponder about what could be behind the growing removal of their fear of Duterte, don’t you think so, my dear readers?

• •

Here’s a word to peoples and organizations bent on showing their bravery, superiority, guts, hatred, or any other negative emotion on others by killing their fellow men, like the recent deadly attacks in France and elsewhere: after the killings, what?

Life goes on, and, except for sporadic investigations and maybe arrests and counter-killings, little, or even absolutely nothing, is remembered of the deaths, terror, and mayhem that you caused. Nothing is even remembered of who you are or what you have been fighting for. So how will that be of some value to you?

It would certainly be a lot better for this world, and for the people or countries against whom you have directed your terror attacks, if more intellectually stimulating or creative efforts are employed by you in your crusade or battle for your ideas and your dreams As it were, your killing others only managed to prove one thing: you are a pathetic failure, because you have not really moved the world to like, or side with, you!

• •

Republic Act 9344, or the Juvenile Justice Law, is one example of a law that was enacted by our congressmen, senators and the president who signed it, without any one of them really thinking about what they were doing, or what the impact would be of the law they were crafting or signing.

In short, this is a law that was born out of the sheer stupidity and criminal carelessness of our political leaders, who got paid their salaries just the same through our taxes even if what they did turned many Filipino children 15 years old and below into hardcore criminals.

There ought to be a law which will require the immediate hanging–politically, that is–of lawmakers and other government officials who will commit the same blunder of doing something, in the guise of performing their official duties and responsibilities, that will prove to be harmful and prejudicial to the nation and our people, especially the youth.

And then again, with due respect to the senators that composed the 16th Congress, it would seem to me that our lawmakers are trying to do to suspend Republic Act 9344 “in the nature of a temporary relief” is yet another “juvenile unthinking response” to an emerging crisis.

The question is, can the House of Representatives and the Senate suspend the implementation of a law just by their passing of a joint resolution? Can a mere resolution of Congress stop the implementation of a duly enacted law?

Any freshman law student will tell you that such a resolution is even illegal and could pose a dangerous example in the future, because only a repeal or an amendment which passed through the legislative mill and then signed by the President can suspend or stop the implementation of an existing law.

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com