The Marcoses and cronies strutting again

The Marcoses and cronies strutting again

MANILA: In 1986, the Marcoses fled the country in the wake of the people's pent-up wrath that had exploded in the Edsa revolution. The exuberant cry that spread throughout the land was "Free at Last!" There was dancing in the streets over the downfall of the hated tyrant. After 13 miserable years, the nation was finally rid of the despot and his ilk.

The Freedom Constitution promulgated as a temporary charter for the reestablished democracy called for, among other reforms, the eradication of "the iniquitous vestiges of the previous regime."

The 1987 Constitution limited the powers of the chief executive to prevent a recurrence of the dictatorship. Both Congress and the Supreme Court were deliberately strengthened with effective checks against a weakened President.

In 1989, the Marcoses filed a petition to compel the Aquino administration to allow them to return to the Philippines. The move failed by a split vote in the Supreme Court.

The majority supported the administration fears that the return of the discredited family would endanger the national security. The dissenters disagreed but lost by one vote.

When the Marcos heirs finally returned after the strongman's death, the feared disorders did not materialize. The general reaction of the people was one of plain indifference.

Except for a few fanatics who sought but failed to make a spectacle of their idol's corpse, the non-event created only a ripple of interest. The embalmed body was no El Cid; neither was it the object of nationwide grief like the martyred Ninoy.

Was this the end of the Marcoses? Not so, not by a long shot.

For soon enough, they were strutting again as if they were still lords and masters of the country they had plundered. They had oppressed the nation for more than a decade, curtailed individual liberties, scorned human rights, subjugated the legislature, emasculated the judiciary, raided the national treasury and intimidated the populace.

But they were, and still are, as unrepentant as ever.

They seemed immune from retribution for the evils of that despised era. Imelda Marcos resumed her role as the capricious Madam, bedecking herself with glittering jewels while pleading her penury.

She walked on her knees at the Quiapo church as television cameras recorded her piety. She celebrated her birthday with a lavish party that shocked even the rich who were not as ostentatious. She was even elected to the House of Representatives, where she served an undistinguished term.

She was convicted by the Sandiganbayan and the Third Division of the Supreme Court but acquitted by the banc. The unexplained wealth cases filed against her and her children in 1991 are still pending in the Sandiganbayan.

Allowed to undergo eye treatment abroad, she made a detour to Paris to attend a niece's elegant wedding. The P23.5-million tax deficiency cases decided by the Supreme Court against her family became final and executory last year but have yet to be enforced.

And one by one, the cronies have followed the Marcos to their old stamping grounds, all looking as innocent as ever. Fabian Ver came back to be buried here, and with him the secret of the Aquino-Galman murders.

Eduardo Cojuangco, a friend of Malacaqang then as now, ran for and might have won as President in 1992 if Imelda had not split the KBL vote. Kokoy Romualdez, back after years of opulent exile abroad, is reportedly planning to run again for governor of Leyte.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lost his bid for the Senate in 1995 but is now governor of Ilocos Norte. His sister, Imee, is in the House of Representatives, lending it glamour if nothing else. Like their mother, they both deny any wrongdoing and insist that the Marcos wealth is their family's alone. A secret bank account abroad allegedly belonging to their sister Irene is now being investigated.

President Joseph Estrada was a loyal supporter of the Marcos dictatorship along with many other fawning entertainers. A goodly number of them are now in the public service.

Even before assuming office in 1998, he announced his intention to bury the dictator's corpse in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Later, he signaled the Supreme Court that he would pardon Imelda if it should affirm her conviction of graft and corruption.

Meanwhile, Arturo Pacificador, a powerful politician during the heyday of the dictatorship, is still being tried for the murder of Evelio B. Javier in Antique 14 years ago. By the latest account, his co-accused son continues to enjoy asylum in Canada while our government twiddles its thumbs.

A proposed compromise agreement between the government and the Marcoses on their unexplained wealth was voided by the Supreme Court last year. The parties had sought to conceal the details of the negotiations on the ground that they had still to be finalized.

The Court held that the public had a right to know about them even at that tentative stage. It appeared later that the PCGG was reluctant to reveal the details because many of them were illegal.

That pending resolution in the House of Representatives to authorize a renegotiation despite the Supreme Court decision should be aborted.

Any compromise agreement will enable the Marcoses to keep part of the fortune that the government insists fully belongs to the Filipino people. The plan is not only immoral but also stupid. The proponents say they are only buying time because the cases will take long to decide. The solution is to speed up the cases, not reward the Marcoses for delaying them.

What our public officials need is not pragmatism but principles. The government should be the last to haggle with parties that it itself regards as lawbreakers.

The resolution would not only allow the Marcoses to keep part of their loot but also grant them criminal immunity and tax exemptions. Criminal liability cannot be compromised. By constitutional fiat, only a majority of all the members of Congress can grant tax exemptions.

Meanwhile, the Marcoses and their cronies act as if nothing wicked happened during their glory days in the Palace.

We still have names like the Marcos Highway and the Imelda Avenue and other ugly reminders of martial law that should have been erased long ago. Foremost among these is that ugly stone face in the mountains of La Union that blights the scenery like an obscenity.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network