OPINION
Nov. 21 - 26, 2016
Vanguard
6
The Power
of Far Vista
By Phillip Ting
Soul tiredness and
an anatomy of despair
I
Editorial
The long and winding road
W
ith Kerwin’s
entry to a case
where more
than 200 drug
protectors and coddlers are
said to be involved, many of
them in powerful and influential positions, Gen. Bato
de la Rosa appears jubilant,
thinking that he will finally
put the last nail on the coffin. But at this point of the
game, this jubilant mood
seems too soon. The long and
tedious process is just about
to unfold. A case against one
suspected coddler, even with
the paper trail of checks and
bluebooks intact, could take
years in our present courts
of law, given its turtle pace.
Take note that each of these
suspects would have his own
lawyer who would be expected to apply all the tricks
of the trade just to drag the
case, until the one sole principal witness, that is Kerwin,
breaks down in exhaustion
after endless hours in court,
telling and retelling his testimony against each of the
more than 200 suspects.
In the history of our
jurisprudence, this is probably the first of its kind,
where one person becomes
a witness against a wide
array of suspects. First,
can he remember all the
incidents involving each
individual? Each would be
a different story, a different occasion, a different set
of circumstances. Would
he be able to tell each story
credibly, without faltering
or sudden loss of memory
and confusion? Government
prosecutors should be able
to let Kerwin tell the story
about each coddler and
protector, where and when
he received the amounts,
how much the amounts
were, and maybe who were
the other persons present.
Without a material evidence showing that certain
amounts changed hands, it
will be the word of Kerwin
against that of the suspect
who, in most cases. will be
a powerful and influential
person. Now how can we
determine if Kerwin is just
out to drag the good name of
the person? Difficult.
In the meantime, there
are forces who are out to
distort the process, muddle the issues, and make
things difficult for the cases to prosper. It has begun
with the murder of Mayor
Rolando Espinosa who was
starting to spill the beans.
Witnesses are killed and
the case is dismissed.
That has happened too
often. Thus, Bato is right
to give his principal witness utmost protection.
But what about the others
who might be involved in
one way or another? The
corroborating witnesses.
They too could disappear
if not given enough protection. And there are a lot of
them.
Among Kerwin’s trusted men who had initially
surrendered to Police Chief
Espenido, three have already retracted their earlier statements. In all
likelihood, several names
earlier cited could have disappeared in their new testimonies under their new
handlers. Now which affidavits are more credible?
As we said, the long
and tedious process is just
unfolding. And it could
lead us to the truth or to
hell and perdition.#
The Weekly Vanguard
is the Eastern Visayas weekly newspaper published by The Vanguard
Communications and Publishing Corporation, with its main office
at Brgy. 95, Diversion Road, Caibaan, Tacloban City.
Publisher:
Bong Contapay
Business Manager:
Rey Enales
Editor: Emil B. Justimbaste
Associate Editor:
Elmer V. Recuerdo
Columnists:
Prof. Rolando Borrinaga, Phillip Ting,
Fr. Virgilio Cañete, Eric Aseo, Jun Portillo
Writers/Correspondents:
Miriam Desacada (Tacloban), Gina Dean (Samar),
Jun Tarroza (Ormoc),
Production staff:
Emilio Bacoto, Sergio S. Canoy Jr., Christian RayTorres
Asprenio G. Ladim
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephones: (053) 888-0947
t comes upon you like
a thief in the night.
One moment, the world
seems to be a brilliant
place still, glimmering with
potential and hope. The next
moment, it feels like everything is but an illusion, a
fake reality masking an unplumbed despair. Yet despite
this, life must go on, and this
weary path must be trod
through, because there is
nothing else but it. The EJK,
the Marcos burial, the disappointments and disillusionment, the physical illness
and bodily pains, everything
all come together in a pile
and must be shouldered on.
It catches you at the moment of your greatest weakness, when you are sick or in
pain, in d