SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISOLATION OF PLUNDER SUSPECTS What the main suspects in the P10-billion pork barrel scandal face as a result of their arrest and detention is social and political isolation. They court political marginalization due to their limited contact with the outside world. They court political oblivion as people forget them due to possible prolonged imprisonment. This is the reason the two of the three main suspects – Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla – have been doing everything at their disposal and power to stay relevant. The moment their petitions for bail have been denied by the Sandiganbayan, they will languish in jail even when the anti-graft court immediately commences their court trial. That is what the law says. Contrary to misplaced perceptions, Bong and Jinggoy are not prisoners of conscience. They are accused of plunder, which means they allegedly raided the national coffers mainly for private gain. It is a nonbailable offense, the law says. In brief, Bong and Jinggoy are not involved in a political crime like rebellion that arises from their rejection of the current state affairs. They are being imprisoned because they are being accused of pocketing hundreds of millions of pesos of their PDAF money. They allegedly stole the peoples money. A political crime like rebellion stems from the intellectual honesty of a rebelling public official, unlike plunder, which is essentially an act of dishonesty, or an act that takes advantage of public trust. Sen. Antonio Trillanes has recovered from seven years of incarceration, has been elected as senator and reelected and evolved to become a major voice in the Senate because he had let his conscience spoke even when he chose to rebel. He was a prisoner of conscience, not a prisoner of his greed and pocket. He has chosen to let his conscience speak. The two lawmakers - Bong and Jinggoy - had allowed greed to consume them. They do not have the high moral ground because they are basically immoral. While they continue to argue their case before the court of public opinion, the people hardly take them seriously. It won’t take long before the two lawmakers would court social and political isolation. Even their fellow politicians would write them off because of their peculiar situation. They may run for higher public office, but they are certain to lose. Who is the sane politician who would work for them? Where are the sane voters who will elect them in office? In the end, they have nothing but the four corners of their prison cells. In the end, they would most likely talk to the walls. In the end, they would likely have their fertile imagination as their companion in the extreme loneliness of prison life. For gregarious people like Jinggoy and Bong, this is the punishment they have to face, bear, and live with – most likely the rest of their lives. Are they made of sterner stuff? This is something very doubtful for the two spoiled brats.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 10:18:37 +0000
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