Imelda’s guilty verdict

Imelda Marcos

After so much wishing and praying for something to prick the ever ballooning ego of each of the remaining Marcos family starting from the wife down to the three children after a glorious political comeback, the decision of the Sandiganbayan declaring guilty and ordering the arrest of former first lady Imelda Marcos on seven counts of graft committed during the reign of her husband and former dictator Ferdinand Marcos could never have been a more appropriate answer.

The reason for their exceeding arrogance is the fact that they had been going around the country trying to rewrite history by convincing people that the dictatorship was the best thing that ever happened to the country, that there was no crime committed, no human rights violated, and nothing stolen from the coffers of government.

What added even more to the bluster of the Marcos family is the fact that today the despot patriarch is now buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ cemetery) after years of being kept in a crypt.

Imelda has been found guilty of violating R. A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, when she transferred around $200 million to seven Swiss foundations during her term as a member of the defunct Batasang Pambansa, as Metro Manila Governor, and as then Minister of Human Settlements.

The anti-corruption court’s 5th Division ordered Imelda, a congresswoman, to serve six to 11 years in jail for each of the seven counts of graft.

Now it can be said that Imelda did not only have a cabinet full of shoes and expensive jewelry and artworks, but inside and in a more secluded place of the cabinet were Swiss foundation skeletons bearing the names Maler Establishment, Trinidad Foundation, Rayby Foundation, Palmy Foundation, Vibur Foundation, Aguamina Foundation and Avertina Foundation which they allegedly created and managed under the pseudonyms William Saunders and Jane Ryan.

This probably gives credence to the allegations made before by the Philippine Commission on Good Government (PCGG) that the Marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth “is estimated between US$5 billion to US$10 billion, the bulk of it being deposited and hidden abroad”.

The question now is, would the children, especially politicians Imee and Bongbong, still have the arrogance to deny this conviction of Imelda after it took decades to decide it or will this decision get them grounded with humility in tow?

Wasn’t this writing on the wall when President Rodrigo Duterte himself admitted that Imelda offered to return a portion of their ill-gotten wealth, including a few gold bars, for whatever help it can do to the country’s economy?

While this may be a victory of sorts for all the people who have experienced the dark days of martial law, the moral fight against the Marcoses continue since they can still make an appeal at the Supreme Court for a reversal of the conviction.

But what the aggrieved Filipinos are asking at least is that Imelda be arrested just like any ordinary citizen in the country that has been declared guilty and are praying once more that Duterte won’t pardon her. Let the verdict of the law fall where it may and without regard to age.

Imelda, who is on her last term as Ilocos Norte representative and has already filed a certificate of candidacy for the province’s gubernatorial race in 2019 is sane enough, therefore, to understand that she has committed a crime and answerable for it and that neither age nor stature should make her feel she is above the law.

 

Italian scientists sentenced for wrong advice

 

Italy’s top earthquake experts found guilty of manslaughter after killer earthquake struck medieval town of L’Aquila.

The latest story circulating globally about seven Italian scientists composing Italy’s Major Risks Committee that were sentenced to six years in jail for manslaughter after 6.3-magnitude quake devastated the medieval town of L’Aquila in central Italy in April 2009, killing 309 people and leaving thousands homeless, could very well belong under the weird news category.

Apparently, this came about when Italy’s top seven seismologists were called in on March 31, 2009 – six days before the killer earthquake struck – to evaluate the seismic activity that was going on in the region.

While the group was reported, then, to have admitted that it is not possible to predict an earthquake, they probably thought that the situation wouldn’t be any worse than just tremors, which prompted the-then deputy director of the Civil Protection agency Bernardo de Bernardinis to give press interviews saying the seismic activity in L’Aquila posed “no danger.”

In fact, Bernardinis advised local residents to relax with a glass of wine.

But, six days after, hell broke loss.

Now, three years after the fact, the Italian court has found the nation’s top earthquake experts guilty for underestimating the risks of the deadly 2009 earthquake. In other words, the advice given the anxious public that they ‘relax with a glass of wine’ despite the frequent tremors felt was unwise, and coming from a collective prediction of the scientists, it made it even worst, making them criminally liable for the devastation.

Under the Italian justice system, the seven remain free until they have exhausted the chances to appeal the verdict, but the ruling has sparked outrage among the world’s scientists who say it has set a dangerous legal precedent.

What is worrying other scientists now is that, with what has happened in Italy, they could become more vulnerable to scapegoating and persecution, even if their role is simply that of an adviser.