Filing charges as political weapon

The filing of charges against politicians has become a very convenient political tactic and tool. And why not? A judicial system that automatically suspends a sued official is great for reinforcing the belief among many Filipinos that a suit is synonymous with guilt. A people that has little patience for falling in line is all the more adverse to waiting for a judicial outcome that can take years, an attitude that leaves presumption of innocence virtually worthless, if not dead.

Thus, while it is good for an erring politician to be held to account for his misdeeds, the ease with which a suit can be filed and a preventive suspension secured is bad considering the often fatal effect it can have on the political careers of politicians, and the honor and dignity of their families, in the event they are found innocent, Filipinos often being of the mind that the mere act of filing a case is already a judgment of guilt.

Astute, therefore, are those who have discovered how the Philippine judicial system can be taken advantage of without pain to themselves, and understood how the Filipino psyche, conditioned to presume guilt rather than innocence, can be exploited and profited from endlessly. A politician is not limited by the number of cases he can file, only by the number of enemies he can file them against.

There used to be a time when politicians did not sue to defeat a rival but engaged enemies on issues by sheer skill and intelligence. But that was during an era when politicians were still truly honorable gentlemen, statesmen against whom no candle can hardly be held against. They used to be true to their callings as representatives of the people, public servants who conducted themselves with the honor and dignity of their mandate.

On the rare occasions when cases did have to be filed, they were truly warranted and public perception did not have to be wishy-washy about the guilt or innocence of the sued party. And the media at the time truly reported on the facts and not in accordance with what might stir the public sense. In a word, everything was in perfect order then, nothing scurrilous, nothing topsy-turvy.

Now politicians sue one another at the drop of a hat, not so much to hold anyone to account or punish the guilty than to bring a rival up to public disdain and ridicule. It is not even necessary to see a case through to its just and meaningful end. Often the political interests of the suing party are served the moment a case is filed and the case makes the news.

What this all points to is a decline in the quality of politics as a profession and statesmanship as a mark of character. It is also an indication of an abject refusal of a nation to mature. A truly mature nation defines and shapes the content of its media. In the Philippines, it is the other way around, the media leads and the nation follows. How many times have officials known of what they are supposed to know only through media and not through their own initiative?