Mayor Lim: Plunder is the biggest crime committed by a public official

How could a person Convicted of Plunder Be Qualified? “There are other Good Law Abiding Citizens.  Why not Put them in Office? Not those Tainted with Unsavory Matters.  Ayon kay Mayor FRED LIM.

Mayor LIM was the PRIVATE INTERVENOR in the DQ VS. ERAP EJERCITO ESTRADA.  The Convicted Criminal,  Na matapos Upuan ng 2 YEARS PLUS ng mga Honorable, Diyos ng “PADRE FAURA”, ang  KORTE SUPREMA ay Pinaboran pa ng Mayorya na may BOTO kuno na 11-3, Na Nagbibigay ng Pahintulot sa CONVICTED PLUNDERER OUSTED PH PRESIDENT ASIONG SALUNGGA na Magpatuloy sa Pagiging MAYOR ng NBP, este Manila City Hall. THE RULE OF MONEY HAD PREVAILED?  Or THE RULE OF LAW?  JUST ASKING PO! PUTANG INANG YAN!

Ganuong ayon sa ating BATAS,  MAYOR LIM should be Proclaimed the WINNER, Since He was the Only Qualified Candidate for Mayor of Manila in the 2013 National Elections.

The Votes for a Disqualified Candidates should considered STRAY VOTES, Based on previous orders issued by the COMELEC & Later UPHELD by the SUPREME COURT.

In His Motion for reconsideration, Lim argued that the wording of Arroyo’s pardon was susceptible to several interpretations but that the third clause-stating that “Estrada has publicly  committed to no longer seek any elective position or office”- supplied what he called the missing clue.

He added that the right to vote and be elected must be “expressly restored” in the pardon, as the Supreme Court ruled in the case of former Zamboanga del Norte Rep.Romeo Jalosjos whose sentence for a rape conviction was commuted by Arroyo.

After serving his commuted sentence, Jalosjos ran for Mayor but he was disqualified by the Comelec. The poll body’s decision was later affirmed by the Supreme Court , which said the accessory penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification remains despite the pardon.

Mayor Lim said the same principle should be applied in Estrada’s case since the high court’s Jan.21 decision would be invoked by future convicts in obtaining executive clemency, and  efforts to end the pillage of public coffers will be all for naught if the decision is not reconsidered. Mayor FRED LIM , Through His Lawyer Atty. Renato dela Cruz filed a M R  in the Supreme Court last Friday Feb.27/15

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PORTION OF OPINION IN PDI by COLUMNIST PETER WALLACE “TITLED;”WHAT HAS THE SUPREME COURT HAS DONE? 2/19/15

THE SUPREME COURT has disappointed again. It seems to see its role as that of a Judge, of a strict interpreter of the word of the law. But I see that as the role of lower courts. The Supreme Court stands above that with its role as the final arbiter of the health of society,of what is best for the country.

In the pardon given to Estrada, there’s a “whereas” clause says he “had publicly committed to no longer seek any elective position or office.”Eleven of 14 Justices put this aside,saying that the dispositive section of the pardon was what must be interpreted, and this said “he is hereby restored to his civil and political rights.” They felt that restoration of civil and political rights meant everthing. Including for public office again. But if so, why was that “whereas”clause at all? It should have been deleted as irrelevant. And why wasn’t the word “full” put in front of “civil….” If running for office again was intended?

My interpretation is that because he’d agreed to not run for public office anymore,hecouldin all other ways be treated like a normal citizen,but only if he kept his word and didn’t run for public office.

An inexplicable pardon doesn’t say Estrada’s innocent:it only says that he doesn’t have suffer the penalty of which he’s charged. He’s still guilty. What doesn’t the Supreme Court understand about that?

And Justice Leonen agrees with me, as (although I’ve not yet read their decesions) do the other two justice I respect: Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno herself and Associate Justice Tony Carpio.

Justice Leonen said: “The person convicted of plunder now walks free among us. “The person convicted of plunder now walks free among us. He did not spend a single day in an ordinary jail.” He went on to say: “This is a template for our political elite at the expense of the masses who toil and suffer from the consequences of corruption. It is hope for those who occupy high government offices who commit crimes as they await a next political term when the  people’s vigilance would have waned. It is the denouement in a narrative that will explained why there is no effective deterrent to corruption in high places.”

He said much more in the same vein, lambasting, if I may use the term, his fellow justice for not considering the wider, more important picture. Which is not only that a guilty man has been allowed to assume an office of public trust but  also that others can feel free to do so, too. It reopens the gates of corruption that President Aquino has been trying so hard to close.

As a Mr.Carlos Isles stated so well in a letter to the editor in the Inquirer (1/28/15), “My professional education in one of the highest institutions of learning in this country has taught me that what is lega may not always be moral. And that if big decisions, like the recent act of the Supreme Court removing all obstacles for Joseph Estrada to continue as Mayor of Manila, then it is not hard to understand why this country is what it is at  present—without a moral compass. As a senior citizen still struggling and hoping for a better future for the Philippines, I think the decision of the Supreme Court is disgusting, to say the least.

What’s worrisome is that the people don’t seem to care.

As the INQUIRER Editorial of Jan.23 said,”Indeed, Estrada tests the limits of Philippine Democracy, and it is hard to guess how long it will take for the Filipino voter to vote wisely, or, until then, whether our courts will have the gumption to defy the political winds.”

The main question, to my mind, is this, Should the Justices who favored Estrada’s continuation in office base their decision only on legal grounds? Every human being is not only a legal construct. He is also a moral one and the high court should have been an equal eye on moral reason for every decision it makes. For the sake of society’s future, it should reconsider.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BOTH OF US, WHO WERE BORN IN THE MONTH OF ARIES. ADVANCE “HAPPY 52nd BIRTHDAY to MY KAPAMILYA SA  SILANG CAVITE, ANG AKING BESPREN NA SI KA CASTOR CARAGAO, AMA NI SILANG CAVITE COUNCILOR RAEL CARAGAO.MAY OUR GOD LORD JESUS CHRIST GIVES  YOU MORE YEARS TO LIVE & MORE BLESSINGS. MABUAHY PO KAYO KA CASTOR ET’AL. GODSPEEED.

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Ugaliing Manood sa Royal Cable TV Program “Kasandigan ng Bayan” Martes at Miyerkules 9 to 12 Noon. Mayor Abner Afuang with Royal CableTV0-6Manager &Southern-Tagalog Broadcast Journalist Assn-Inc President Cris Sanji. Maraming Salamat po. Godspeed.