Punish them

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

In reaction to some House members who have been urging that Congressman Ronald Singson, who was arrested at the Hong Kong airport last July after he was found to be carrying 26 grams of cocaine in his luggage, and is currently considering pleading guilty to the lesser offense of cocaine possession, be expelled from the chamber; his father, Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson is saying that Congress should start first with fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson who has a standing arrest warrant for murder.

Lacson disappeared last year after a court issued a warrant for his arrest for the 2000 abduction and murder of publicist Salvador Dacer and the latter’s driver, Emmanuel Corbito.  The fugitive Senator is believed to be hiding out abroad although there have been rumors of sightings in the country.

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II has appealed to Ronald Singson to resign and spare his colleagues the rigors of an ethics committee hearing and a plenary vote on his expulsion.  No complaint has, so far, been filed against the younger Singson as the House leadership has decided to wait for developments in his case even though it has a constitutional mandate to discipline a member for disorderly behavior.

The lack of action of both the lower and upper houses of representatives of the Filipino people against members who have seriously besmirched the reputation of the institution they belong to, such as Ronald Singson who is about to plead guilty to the charge of drug possession, and Panfilo Lacson who insists on his innocence yet unashamedly continues to defy and taunt the justice system by refusing to surrender, is a sign of just how low these institutions have sunk.  The remaining members of these law-making bodies have to understand that they are collectively losing credibility with every day that they waste protecting disorderly or even criminally liable members from censure, suspension, or dismissal. 

How are the Filipino people supposed to respect the members of Congress and Senate if they continue to see misbehavior and illegal acts being tolerated?  Will the leadership of both houses do something about the cases of Ronald Singson and Panfilo Lacson?  Or will they continue what they have been doing for months: stand back, do nothing, and allow the credibility of their institution to crumble due to sheer neglect, indifference, and the irrational need to protect one of their own?*