ManilaMailDC.Net - After Erap, who?

Filipinos have generally accepted the Sandiganbayan’s conviction of ousted President Joseph “Erap” Estrada for plunder.

Now, the question people are asking is, after Erap, who? They want to know if it is possible for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to pursue cases against her own top officials who have been linked to graft and corruption and other serious graft charges in Senate investigations? It will be recalled that Estrada was formally charged after he was deposed by the second People Power revolution that grew out of a Senate investigation into his involvement in several anomalous transactions.

After the conviction of Estrada on Sept. 12, President Arroyo declared that this conviction proves that the “rule of law” prevails in the Philippines. But the opposition is asking if she will apply the same rule of law on top officials of her administration who have been accused by Congressional probers of high crimes.

“If the conviction is really about the rule of law, then the Arroyo government must prosecute former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc Joc" Bolante, former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and other officials involved in the multi-billion peso NAIA Terminal 3, the Macapagal Boulevard and now the National Broadband Network deal," said Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, United Opposition (UNO) president.

“How can they claim there is rule of law when these officials and political allies of Mrs. Arroyo remain above the law? That is hypocrisy," he said.

Bolante was named as the architect of the P728 million fertilizer fund Scam which was used in the 2004 presidential election. Perez was implicated by former Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez as the one who received $14 million in bribe money from the Argentine firm Impresas Metalurgicas Pescarmona SA (IMPSA) which bagged the rehabilitation contract for the Kalayaan-Botocan power plant. The opposition has accused Garcillano of padding the votes of President Arroyo in 2004 as evidenced by their supposed telephone conversation.

Today, the Senate is investigating the reportedly overpriced multi-million-dollar broadband contract with a firm in China. Being prominently mentioned in the hearing as having something to do with it are top officials of her administration, including First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos and others. While Mrs. Arroyo agreed to let some of her Cabinet members testify in the Senate, she is fuming that her husband was linked to the deal. She has unleashed the full power of the government, including her daughter, to attack the person who made the revelation: Jose de Venecia III, son of Speaker Jose de Venecia. Malacanang is also threatening to charge the Speaker himself with certain violations of law. There are also rumors JDV will be deposed as speaker of the House of Representatives.

Is this part of the rule of law?