No more justice by attrition: Let justice be swift, lest we forget
Justice as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is the quality of being fair, right, and impartial. Attrition means a gradual wearing down, reduction or loss of numbers, strength, or material over time. It comes from the Latin, atterere, “to weaken.”
I am not a sociologist, a psychologist, a political scientist, nor a lawyer, just a regular citizen. It took a sociology professor, Randy David, to explain why after 35 years, on Sept. 9, the Supreme Court released a decision reversing Imelda Marcos’ 2018 conviction on seven counts of graft. He ended his article, “Thirty five years ended in a seven-page resolution no one thought of reporting.”
It should have been big news on all media, including social media, since at this time, we have hearings on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, and previously on the flood control projects and solar corruption. Justice on Imelda Marcos’ case was served by attrition, weakened by time specifically and by the others factors David illustrated from the start—high powered lawyers who dissected all possibilities, legally and technically, to the current occupant of Malacañang.
In my simple thinking, we Filipinos as a rule “ay madaling makalimot” although it took almost 35 years for Imelda’s case. We really don’t know how much Marcos Sr.’s wealth was and how much was the government, through the Presidential Commission on Good Government, was able to bring back to the government coffers, minus all the expenses. How much do we spend—time and money—on all these hearings and investigators, which in most cases are dead ends?
These are some of the factors to be brought up or questioned by the electorate in the midterm elections.
Just in the recent past, did we have closures on the hearings of Pharmally and the Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic? For the flood control corruption perpetrators, few are in custody because of plunder, some have escaped abroad and what happened to the rest?
I hope that with the hearings on the impeachment of VP Sara, the senators acting as judges, justice must be swift and not by attrition since as a people, “madali tayong makalimot.”
Dios ko, maawa ka naman sa Pilipinas at buksan mo ang mga mata ng mga Pilipino.
Ida M. Tiongco,
idationgco@gmail.com
