Investigation in aid of shame
IN our editorial of May 19, we considered some of the questions raised by the odd case of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, who has been the subject of a so-called investigation in aid of legislation in the Senate, this one led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality. Those questions must be answered, but just as we have seen time and time again, an inquisition staged for the purpose of allowing senators to make a public spectacle of themselves while willfully disrespecting every principle of due process, civil rights, and even basic common sense and courtesy is utterly failing to provide those answers, and in fact, is likely making it more difficult if not impossible to resolve the real issues involved.
The entire sorry mess that has been created by Hontiveros and her committee began earlier this month after the discovery and a subsequent raid by law enforcement officials on two Philippine offshore gaming operation (POGO) sites in Bamban. The illicit enterprises were found to have been carrying out large-scale online scam operations, as well as various other crimes, including human trafficking, as some of the “workers” allegedly were being held against their will and forced to engage in fraudulent activities. This latter discovery, especially since many of the victims were women and minors, is what gave Senator Hontiveros the pretension that the involvement of her committee was appropriate and necessary.
The Senate leadership should have put a stop to Hontiveros’ meddling right there. Indeed, Mayor Guo, as the responsible local government official, should be subject to inquiry as part of a thorough investigation. As things have turned out, there have been some serious questions raised as to whether she was connected at all to the POGOs in an official or personal capacity.
At no point in any of that is the involvement of any Senate committee required, and especially not a hearing that quickly devolved into an undisciplined interrogation of Guo about her personal origins or what civic leader Teresita Ang-See colorfully described as an “irritable tearjerker zarzuela [that] serves only to detract from the problems.”
What is particularly egregious is the focus of Hontiveros and her committee, despite the senator’s weak protestations to the contrary, on Guo’s Chinese heritage. So what? Many Filipinos have some Chinese ancestry. For any senator, and particularly one such as Senator Hontiveros, who fancies herself a champion of the rights of women and the marginalized, to basely focus on that aspect of one’s persona is beyond disreputable. It is particularly dangerous for a high official to do so now in a period of heightened tension between the Philippines and the government of China when so recklessly and transparently taking advantage of public fears to gain attention could needlessly aggravate the situation.
To be clear, we are not defending Mayor Guo. But we do not have to defend her because it is a fundamental principle of our law that one who is accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The questions about Guo’s possible involvement in the criminal enterprises discovered in her town have serious implications, as do questions that have been raised as a result about her legitimacy to hold an elected office. There are, however, agencies that are responsible for carrying out those investigations, and furthermore, have the proper training, experience and resources to do so thoroughly and correctly. The Senate does not.
Even if, as is always the case in these seemingly endless exercises, the Senate stands on its authority to conduct “hearings in aid of legislation” to legitimize its meddling, we challenge the Senate generally and Senator Hontiveros in her capacity as committee chairman specifically, to spell out what actual or possible legislation is the objective of the inquiry.
Frankly, it is not apparent at this point. There are already pending measures for the complete abolition of the POGO businesses, important bills that the Senate probably could have passed already if it were not wasting its time on irrelevant hearings. We already have laws against fraud, theft, human trafficking and engagement in criminal activity by elected officials. It seems to us that the operation carried out by law enforcement authorities against the POGOs in Bamban is an indication that those laws are, in fact, working. So unless our honorable lawmakers can enlighten us otherwise, it seems that the latest hearings, like so many before them, are resulting in shame and little else.