(Editor’s note: Prosecuting graft cases may last more than 10 years and defeat the law’s intent as noted by the author.)
By Romeo V. Pefianco
HOW many months or years of painstaking inquiry are devoted to the filing of administrative or criminal charges or both in graft cases?
Living in a cockpit
The classic case some four or five years ago was the inquiry into the life and times of a regional director who virtually lived in a big cockpit, betting tax money and winning back some but losing most.
Naturally, he failed the so-called lifestyle check without finality or giving him a long prison sentence and dismissal from the service.
Like other major crimes
Like murder, robbery with homicide and other high-profile crimes, graft cases may not see final judgment in five, 10 or 20 years.
If the public servant involved is now 55, 60 or 64 years old there’s a good chance he may retire "honorably" at 65 without a final decision on any of the serious charges such as stealing millions of tax money.
Models of graft cases
Let’s try to validate the above. According to one headline of a major national daily (not MB) the Palace is "sitting on 90 graft cases" submitted by the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) of which 15 were filed against officials with Cabinet rank, but not one is an incumbent secretary.
PAGC’s job is not like "picking apples." Some cases required months or more than a year of hard work and patience in search of solid evidence.
The long hard work
Let’s look closer at a model graft case study. The preliminary investigation stage may last five years or more. If one main evidence disappears like a mist in the process, with or without a deliberate plan or intent, the graft case may not reach the hearing/trial stage.
Trial/appeal
The trial proper lasting another five years or more may or may not result in a guilty verdict. Convicted grafters have at least two judicial layers to consider their cases on appeal which may take another five years or more all the way to the Supreme Court.
We can recall some graft cases decided against local officials and employees some 10 years or more after leaving office or losing a reelection bid. All of them almost always proclaimed innocence and announced their intention to appeal to higher courts.
Winning over slow mill of justice
In some cases their appeal won over the slow mill of justice.
But some grafters are lucky. They get caught years, say 10 or 15 years, after stealing R50 M to R300 M of tax money which their families (wife, sons or daughters) have safely stashed away in banks outside RP in such neighboring cities as Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Beijing, etc.
Sudden amnesia
Graft cases based on a theft of millions may not be decided at all. Witnesses of the prosecution may develop sudden amnesia in the dock after facing rapid-fire questions from defense lawyers.
(One of O.J. Simpson’s lawyers in a double murder case was F. Lee Bailey, one of America’s sharpest and fearsome trial counsels. He elicited admission with a racial slant from one white police officer that led to acquittal.)
Huge defense budget
A huge defense fund, say R15 M, may get a stalling strategy or convince main witnesses to review/revise their solid testimony.
Years ago a clerk in one government financial institution (GFI) was tempted to falsify five signatures that enabled him to encash five checks worth R25,000.
Angry stand
He was sentenced to more than 20 years, and did not appeal. At the coffee shop my barkada took an angry stand: "It pays to steal R25 M, not just R25,000. It is unsafe for the small thief to face prosecution without a smart trial lawyer."
The 90 graft cases now in the Palace may or may not get a "hasty/unfavorable" ruling against the respondents, especially against 15 of Cabinet rank. (Comments are welcome at roming@pefianco.com)
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