Who’ll get expelled first?

Should we expect a rash of expulsions in the next few months? There is the son of Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson, Congressman Ronald Singson, who has pleaded guilty to drug charges in Hongkong. Then there is General Carlos F. Garcia, who has virtually also pleaded guilty of graft in the military, but managed to get off by the skin of his teeth with a beautifully crafted plea bargain agreement with the Ombudsman for the military. Now we have another candidate for expulsion, the former mayor of San Jose town in Surigao del Norte and now Congressman Ruben Ecleo of Dinagat.

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But who is going first? In the case of Singson, his colleagues, particularly his friends and friends of his father, are trying to delay the inevitable by pointing out that he hasn’t been sentenced yet, and an appeal may still be submitted to a higher court. As for Garcia, he has already retired from the military, so they can no longer expel him, but it is his alma mater’s alumni association that is moving to oust him. The members of the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association obviously do not want to retain a member with such an awful reputation.

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What about Ecleo? It is unfair or even unchristian to say so, but the fellow has a face that can look guilty no matter what you accuse him of. Remember him? He became headline stuff for the discovery of the strangled body of his wife, the former Alona Bacolod (though not from this city), a medical student. He has been charged with her murder, but it is not for that that the Supreme Court has affirmed his sentencing by the SandiganBayan. The SC agreed with the SB decision finding him guilty of graft on three counts and sustained the latter’s sentence of 18 to 30 years for him. Now his fellow congressmen are trying to see how they can also get him out of the House.

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My late mother used to say that when you cannot get justice for what somebody did to you, he or she will get it from somebody else. I see this in the case of Ecleo, who has been charged for the more dastardly crime of parricide for the death of his young wife, a case that I believe, does not have the proverbial Chinaman’s chance of prospering for lack of witnesses courageous enough to testify for the prosecution. Then there is also the fanatic loyalty of the followers of Ruben Ecleo, who is the supreme Master of the group calling itself the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, 22 of whom died when they tried to protect him from arresting police officers. He may not be made accountable for Alona’s death, but the three counts of graft convictions will get him no less than 18 years in jail.

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As for parliamentary immunity, House rules say that he can only avail of that if the conviction involves only the maximum of six years. Let us see how he can wiggle out of this. Will the court pounce on him, as it did on another former congressman, Romeo Jalosjos of Zamboanga del Norte? But then, he still can hope for the election of a friendly president who will pardon him. And then Alona’s kin can continue to cry to heaven for justice.

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This was one time when the locals beat ‘em. I am referring to local media who were able to report on the Azkals triumph immediately after it happened, while the national ones, particularly print, had to wait another day. So until now, people have not stopped talking about the victory, and Manila sports columnists are still dissecting the game. I am glad, however, that most of their opinions agreed with ours – that the Mongolians, even if they lost, are not to be taken for granted because they presented a very admirable defense that foiled all but two of the Azkals’ 32 attempts to score. We will need to pray more for them when they clash in the Mongolian court next month.

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By the way, one of our kababayans who flew home for the football game was former Miss International Aurora Pijuan who was among the rooters of the Azkals at the Panaad. Au-au texted me earlier in the day that she was in town and we planned to see each other at the stadium but, alas, her message got accidentally deleted and I could neither contact her nor see her in that mammoth gathering. But I did see her rushing down the stairway afterwards, but it was so noisy, she didn’t hear my calls to her. Anyway, it was heartwarming to see so many Bacoleños and Negrenses coming home for the event. That’s the spirit!*

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