     
| A student's look into the ERAP verdict  It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.This quotation from Francois De La Rochefoucauld may be deemed relevant to the current situation that former President Joseph Estrada is facing right now. The popular political figure who was impeached in November 2000 and was forced to leave Malaca�ang by an uprising two months later, was judged guilty on two counts of plunder last September 12 by the Sandiganbayan. A warning As for plunder cases, Estrada was not the first government official to be convicted. The first official was Dominga Manalili, a former cashier for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). She was sentenced to two life terms after she was judged guilty for diverting more than P260 million in withholding tax payments into two bank accounts from 1996 to 1997. Unfortunately, the former President�s penalty is graver. Besides the life sentence that comes with the conviction, the court also ordered the ill-gotten wealth which amounts to more than P700 million in assets, including his so-called �Boracay Mansion� in New Manila, Quezon City to be forfeited to the state. On the other hand, Amando Doronila concluded that the verdict on Estrada should also serve as a warning to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in his column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer last September 13. �It (the verdict) has set the precedent of a successful reckoning of accountability after a presidency. It has put in place the mechanism for accountability,� he added. A miscarriage or carriage of justice? Although the Estrada camp claims that there was a �miscarriage of justice�, there are those who are happy with this action of the Sandiganbayan to finally convict the ousted President. �Kung sa mga students yan, isang tagumpay ang pagkahatol sa kanya dahil nagbibigay pag-asa sa atin na effective pa ang ating justice system. Kasama tayo sa mga naging key players sa pagpapatanggal sa kanya sa pwesto. Kung mapapansin mo, ginamit pa ang Muslim student foundation para sa corruption,� said Shahanah Abdulwahid, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman University Student Council (USC) Chairperson. Abdulwahid was pertaining to the Erap sa Mahirap Foundation that supposedly gave postgraduate scholarships for Muslim students. According to allegations, Estrada put up the said foundation in order to launder jueteng protection money. An illusion? In a statement made by former Health Secretary Alberto Romualdez, he said that �This (verdict) is an attempt to legitimize a government that has not done this country any good.� He added that with this verdict at hand, the present government may very well rest assured to stay in power. As for Victor Villanueva, Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND-UP) Finance Officer, he stated that ��it�s a temporary illusion for students to believe that our government is functioning properly. For it to become a valuable victory for the youth, kailangan lahat ng mga maysala sa students (because of budget cuts etc) tulad ni erap ay mahatulan din. Otherwise it�s just an insignificant and temporary way of the ruling class to satisfy angry students.� Just as Villanueva pointed out, this may just be temporary since there is always the issue of talks or negotiations regarding absolute pardon. With an absolute pardon, all penalties that came with the verdict may be erased or disregarded. And even if the former President chooses not the accept it, it will still become effective if granted. What other students have to say There are those who think that it is useless to convict the former president. UP Diliman senior Public Administration student Jennifer Nancy Legaspi said, �Yung verdict kay Erap parang walang relevance kasi we�re still stuck with an incompetent president.� �For me personally, I don�t think the verdict on erap has a bearing or importance to us students,� said senior Nursing student Pia Agatha Ramos from the University of Santo Tomas (UST). For students like Joanna Marie Lim, a Nursing major from UP Manila, Philippine politics is still not safe from the troubles to come. �I think larger consequences will arise when the next elected president will be coming from the opposition wherein there�s a the possibility of revenge, thus welfare of the students may also suffer in the long run in terms of making bills or actions for the benefits of students by the government officials.� But for some students like Daisy Mae Liwanag, a senior Nursing student at the Far Eastern University (FEU), the verdict may just set the trend for a more disciplined citizenry. �The students will be more responsible citizens of our country especially in abiding with the law because they might think that even a powerful man like President Erap could be disciplined with due process and justice,� she said. But even if this event has set legal and historical precedents, not only students, but all Filipinos should look out for the welfare of their own country and not rely on a justice system which bends for the sake of some political game. |