Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s sudden retreat from his lofty perch as a putative presidential contender at age 40 is viewed as a surge too fast, too early, but his wings faltered without reaching the blue skies yonder. I do think it is more like “too much too soon.”

****

Congratulations to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for the quick and effective action against the Alvin Flores Gang that hit Greenbelt 5 and carted away millions worth of valuable watches. The truism that “crime does not pay” is illustrated very clearly when this notorious group was quickly neutralized and no less than its evasive leader, Alvin Flores, killed in Cebu while many of those involved in the robbery were collared by NBI operatives. This certainly makes NBI Director Nestor Mantaring proud, and we also commend his determined agents in their diligent pursuit which brought the case to its successful end. This feat will hopefully help restore the confidence of the public in the NBI.

The fall of another Flores Gang member in Pangasinan is illustrative of the capability of law enforcers in solving crimes when they work hard enough and concentrate on their mission to curb criminality. The Pangasinan police operation reveals that these criminals who participated in the Greenbelt 5 heist were bodyguards of a municipal mayor there. This sinister connection should be enough reason to alert public officials from hiring questionable characters for their personal security. In light of this, the public is now wondering whether public officials who hire goons and persons of questionable résumés may themselves be involved in the crimes committed by their shady bodyguards. I urge the Department of the Interior and Local Government to order an investigation of the town mayor who is reportedly the boss of these criminal-bodyguards. I suggest this because there seems to be a pattern established through the years, especially when election time comes near, when those running for public office, especially sitting public officials, hire guns and goons and even members of the New People’s Army and use them either to scare their opponents or to raise funds the illegal way. For instance, in my province in Iloilo, I received reports about several criminals from Luzon who are now reportedly in the province under the payroll of local politicians clearly for election purposes.

****

I read a news item in several dailies about the plan of the Department of Justice to extend legal assistance to policemen. This is nothing new as far as this writer is concerned because I was the one who initiated and instituted this program after my appointment as secretary of justice. However, I defined the parameters of the program among which is to cover only those policemen who are charged with crimes as a result of the lawful performance of their duties, from the lowly new recruit up to the rank of SPO4. Before this, the Public Attorneys Office’s mandate does not cover policemen, and I saw fit to amend this coverage after taking note of the hesitancy of many police officers to properly and resourcefully perform their jobs, fearful that organized criminal syndicates will get back at them just as quickly as they arrest them. Note that these criminal groups have standby lawyers who can easily concoct countercharges against policemen in order to neutralize criminal cases filed against syndicate members and put apprehending policemen in a tight spot.

On the other hand, policemen who often earn barely enough to feed their families are forced to hire the services of private lawyers to defend themselves as a consequence of their performance of their lawful duties, which is a costly exercise. I wanted to equalize the situation to lessen the burden of our dedicated and honest police officers, giving them legal and moral support to do their jobs without fear from unwanted prosecution and persecution.

****

I congratulate resigned Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) commissioner Sixto Esquivias IV for giving up his very influential and powerful post because he was “ashamed” that the BIR under his watch has failed to meet its preset collection target. Commissioner Esquivias should be praised for his candor and his sincerity, as well as for his delicadeza by humbly resigning after the BIR failed to attain its target collection, the bottom line of a job he was assigned to do. In contrast, other officials of government collection agencies of lesser stuff will shamelessly wait until they are fired, even when they are fully aware of their shortcomings after failing their mission.

Congratulations Commissioner Esquivias. Godspeed!

****

In less than a week, our very own pound-for-pound champion, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, will stake his title as the pride of the Filipino people when he faces a menacing adversary, Miguel Cotto, in Las Vegas. Let us all pray that our Manny will once again be victorious and place the name of the Filipino nation in the highest pedestal of boxing history.

3 Responses to “The NBI delivers”

• 1
  Rustico Alfaras
  November 10th, 2009 15:04

  Correct, congratulations to Sixto Esquivias who had the delicadeza to resign… in sharp contrast to the extremely kapal mukha Raul Gonzalez who shamelessly clung to his position as DOJ secretary in spite of huge scandals regarding his leadership, not the least of them was the “Alabang Boys.” Gonzalez could not even solve the local murder cases of Ronalyn Penepona and Vice Mayor Ramon Rojas. SHAMELESS OLD MAN! He had to be fired because he refused to resign!!Add to that, he did not even have the decency to refuse the token position of presidential legal counsel… taking a salary for being useless. What a LOSER!!!!!!!!!
• 2
  Louie Armada
  November 11th, 2009 02:59

  Raul Gonzalez calls Chiz Escudero “too much too soon.” Look who’s talking! Gonzalez is TOO OLD, TOO SICKLY, and TOO CORRUPT to be the mayor!!!! He is so quick to criticize everyone else when he should turn the criticism on himself.
• 3
  Vic Esguerra
  November 11th, 2009 09:18

  If Chiz Escudero is “too much too soon” because he’s too young at 40, then Raul Gonzalez himself is too old to be the mayor at 80 years old. He looks like a walking dead, how could he possibly do the job as mayor when it requires a lot of energy and attention to details? Gonzalez is famously senile and his kidney is failing! No way that he can be an effective mayor. If he was in his right mind, Raul Gonzalez would save his face and bow out of politics already. Except that his greed and lust for power is his priority.

Leave a Reply