Imeldific’s day of reckoning
JUBILANT University of the Philippines students and faculty lit a bonfire on the evening of November 9 not to celebrate a varsity victory, but to happily welcome the conviction of Imelda Marcos for graft.
Similar displays of joy greeted news that a court found Imelda guilty of six counts of graft and sentenced to jail time of between 42 to 77 years.
But our celebrations may be shortlived. Imelda has announced she would appeal the verdict, and then there’s how traditional politics works — which could negate and undo this legal victory.
Compared to the eagerness of the police to immediately arrest Duterte opponents merely accused of trumpedup charges like De Lima, Trillanes, Baylosis, and Ladlad — there are no police in full battle gear ready to take custody of Imelda.
No immediate arrest for Imelda, because the police knows the Marcoses are allies of Duterte. Heck, the police knows the Marcoses fully well: Not only have they provided them with security, the police served as the enforcers of the Marcos dictatorship.
No immediate arrest for Imelda, because it is public knowledge and more importantly a matter of pride for the Duterte family that they’re in an alliance with the Marcoses. In fact, Inday Sara even went so far as to travel from down south Davao to far north Ilocos Norte to stand as “ninang” to a Marcos scion in order to cement their alliance. Sara also formed Hugpong partly to accommodate the Marcoses into the Duterte camp, because the Marcoses would surely refuse joining PDP-Laban, the party co-founded by Ninoy Aquino.
All told, the Duterte-Marcos alliance is the apex of political accommodation and impunity of the ruling elite and ruling regimes since 1986. Fidel Ramos welcomed the Marcoses into his rainbow coalition. The honorables of Congresses past and present laid down the red carpet for the returning Marcoses. No ethics investigations whatsoever. The first Congress after 1986 enacted into law the shambolic Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law which alloted all recovered Marcos loot to go to compensating landlords — a self-serving provision for the landlorddominated Congress, and a stumbling block to the long campaign of Marcos victims for indemnification.
My point being, we came to this point without our direct complicity or participation as a people. We have been blamed for the political resurrection of the Marcoses when it is the trapo class which allowed it under the guise of “unity” and “reconciliation.” We have been unfairly blamed for the inability or refusal of the state to swiftly prosecute the Marcoses — which is the reason Imelda, Imee, Bongbong, and their progeny continue to inflict themselves on the nation.
There are other examples of the ruling elite’s corrupt culture of political accommodation. Take the plunder case filed and won by citizens against deposed President Joseph Estrada. Less than a month after his conviction, his successor Arroyo pardoned Estrada. A senator actually filed a resolution asking for that pardon.
When the time came for filing charges against Arroyo, they came in trickles and were weak and thus easy to defeat. Aquino won on a platform of correcting past mistakes and moral renewal — but it didn’t succeed in holding Arroyo legally accountable. Aquino also had his share of scandals, and expanded pork barrel politics to levels never before known. And they had the gall to act surprised that the Marcoses, Estrada, and Arroyo are now back in power and as allies of Duterte? Some in the ruling elites act surprised that Duterte has used the failures of past pseudo-democratic regimes to discredit democracy and to justify tyranny? Wow, the nerve!
The last 32 years aren’t that long, really. But in this age of hyperpartisan cherry-picking of facts and of disinformation, all blame it seems falls on the Filipino people who actually prevailed over and outlasted Marcos, Estrada, and Arroyo. They’re also being blamed for the rise of Duterte and for everything he inflicts on the people. Never mind the immense machinery of state capable of doing what any sitting President wants. Never mind the political dynasties that switch allegiances and coddled or supported the worst of their lot. Never mind the structures and institutions that supposedly protect the people.
What unites the traditional politicians, be they pro-Duterte or antiDuterte, is their common disdain and contempt for the Filipino people they victimize. They created the myth of the bobotante to transfer to voters and the public the accountability of the corrupt, the brutal, and the incompetent while they hold public office. One camp claims the electoral mandate means a license to kill and to plunder, while the other camp blames the exact same mandate to hide its weakness and failures. It is a recipe for perpetual division that benefits only the traditional political class, because in this narrative the people always need saving by some new or old trapo demigod.
It is thus no surprise that the Marcoses are not scared. They are resurgent. Imee seems only waiting to be crowned a senator for Hugpong. They are confident that the House would protect Imelda. Duterte, who oddly styles himself as an anti-corruption leader, is silent on the court verdict.
In 1987, victims of the Marcos regime filed a class action suit against the Marcoses. They did it against the wishes of the then-president who ironically was a Marcos victim herself. They did it with the government opposing them. But they persevered and they prevailed. Today, the case Hilao vs. Marcos is in the annals of jurisprudence as an example of how a people could hold a dictator accountable for abuses.
May that case teach us the lesson about how to ensure Imelda is sent to jail in particular and about changemaking in general. We cannot rely on political demigods and the opportunist traditional political class. We must unite as a people, and together take action to compel the system to deliver its promise of justice.