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JUSTICE Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez refuses to
disclose what his ailment is and would not even reveal the location
of the hospital where he was confined. Does the public have a right
to know?
In 1982, when he was charged in
the We Forum case along with Joe Burgos & Co., he joined the
ranks of the desaparecidos when the warrants of arrest were issued.
Later, we learned he had checked into some hospital. His silence and
inaccessibility today would again fuel reports that, once more, he
is being treated to right a botched minor surgical operation done in
the summertime in our youth (sungaw). I myself got slapped
repeatedly in the face, spat out guava leaves and then ran across
the rice paddies.
That was how we marked the rite
of passage that was circumcision in my paternal hometown of Pasig. I
was 11 or so.
Seriously, do the people have a
right to know if our public officials are badly ailing?
Given the experience with Wilson
and Marcos, our Constitution is for transparency as far as the chief
executive is concerned. It says: “In case of serious illness of
the President, the public shall be informed of the state of his
health. The members of the Cabinet in charge of national security
and foreign relations and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines shall not be denied access to the President during
such illness.”
Does this mean that it is only
the president who could not invoke the right to be let and left
alone? In the days of Wilson, the talk was that Mrs. Wilson was
running the White House. When Marcos had bouts with lupus, who was
running the Palace?
What about Cabinet members?
Obviously, the doctors would advise that Raul go on leave or resign
in fairness to everybody. He should as he has done enough harm to
taint the good he did during the dictatorship. In the summit on
salvaging called by Chief Justice Rey Puno, Raul reportedly boasted
to the audience that no one among them did more for human rights.
Maybe he felt like Reggie Jackson in that it ain’t braggin’ if
you can back it up.
But it was true he showed
uncommon raw courage from the start when he openly defied martial
law.
No one else in the Cabinet comes
close. GMA’s role during the dark years is murky. For some reason,
Raul now seems to see a Torrens title to the Justice Secretaryship,
even if all this time, his nomination has not been approved by the
Commission on Appointments. It has been years now, mocking the
process.
As to the Chief Justice Rey Puno,
his brother, Dr. Carlito, has been shown the door in CHED,
gracelessly, an apparent gesture of displeasure. How dare the CJ
call that summit meet as if the regime were inutile in the face of
all these extrajudicial killings, torture and disappearances? I wish
Raul would show more interest in the case of JayJay Burgos, if only
in memory of his association with the We Forum daily of iconic Joe
Burgos.
But then, Raul is very sick, from
all accounts, and should have our sympathies. Now he has more to do,
as the PCGG has been put under the Department of Justice. I am not
certain this is a positive development given the slow movement of
papers in the DOJ, where Raul is surrounded by characters led by a
much-talked-about ethnic type. (A jewel there is Undersecretary
Ernie Pineda.)
Not much is known on why the
Marcoses are now openly claiming property that they cannot get since
ill-gotten wealth can only go to the government.
But, more than a decade ago,
Imelda told me that certain dummies would not honor their commitment
to return assets put in their names. I hear how pejoratively she
would describe El Kapitan as “ang magboboteng ‘yan,” despite
her equally humble origins from which both have risen, to their
credit. So, what’s the score? Certainly, the Marcoses and the
cronies have no right to privacy.
Interestingly, the US Supreme
Court has been secretive about the health of its members. Two weeks
ago, Chief Justice John Roberts had a seizure disorder. Suddenly,
the bulletproof 52-year-old magistrate became as mortal, vincible
and vulnerable as you and I. The Court spokesman said he had resumed
his vacation and no further information was forthcoming.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist,
quite sick, was asked by the media what of. He said it was none of
their business (“that is for me to know and you to find out”).
Roberts, like Thurgood Marshall and Harry Blackmun, conceals his
ailment. Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have been
more forthcoming with their cancer problems.
In this instance, our Wild, Wild
Press has not shown any enterprise to find out Raul’s condition.
At 200 years old, he should go but GMA proves that fawning and
flattery can do wonders. We used to have energetic wise men heading
the DOJ.
Now we just have a wise guy who
should be put to pasture.
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