"Everyone apparently won."
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When Senator Antonio Trillanes came out of his office for a media interview after Judge Andres Soriano of the Regional Trial Court of Makati City branch 148 denied the petition of the Justice Department for the issuance of a warrant of arrest and a hold departure order, he was visibly euphoric. And perhaps rightly so.
After all, the decision of Judge Soriano meant that he would not be going to jail. The political allies of the senator were also relieved that the judge appeared to have withstood the tremendous pressure from the government.
Since the country is so infatuated with conspiracy theories, there are many ways of interpreting the decision depending on which side of the political aisle one belongs to. For instance, is there a winner in this episode? Obviously, Senator Trillanes and his allies believe that they are. But looking at it objectively, it is not as simple as that.
We can also say that all sides won. President Duterte and the Justice Department can now say to the world that democracy in the country is vibrant and very much alive. Even the yellow allies of Trillanes praised the decision saying that at least, judicial independence can be maintained if there are brave and competent judges like Judge Soriano. Indeed, how can the critics now say that there is dictatorship if the courts can afford to go against what the President wants?
This is in fact what spokesman Sal Panelo is already saying. The government can also say that the judicial process of the country is working. Given the criticism that this government is already receiving as a result of its drug war, this is a big deal.
On a personal level, the biggest winner in this decision might well be the judge himself. With his unprecedented decision, it is safe to say that his professional reputation has been cemented and enhanced. I dare say that his future in the judiciary will improve much further especially if in 2022, the opposition will take Malacañang. Even his colleagues in the legal profession are impressed.
Indeed, the good judge took considerable time to study and promulgate his decision. Whether the government will respect the judgement of the court in this case as it already said and not retaliate sub rosa will show whether this government has a word of honor. The administration after all has still three years to go and as the saying goes, there are many ways to skin a cat.
Are there any losers in this episode? Maybe. We could point to Solicitor General Jose Calida who masterminded the ouster of former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. This time, he came up short because there is this judge who was prepared to stand his ground. He of course, said that he would file an appeal directly to the Court of Appeals signalling that he is not prepared to accept the decision of judge Soriano without exhausting all legal remedies. It also means that the case is not yet closed. Will the Court of Appeals be as strong as Judge Soriano? How about Judge Elmo Alameda of Branch 150 of Makati City who sided with the government position? Will his professional reputation suffer and take a hit? Maybe, but it is also not as simple as that.
My experience in these types of cases is that there are always two sides of a story. Both judges simply viewed the cases brought to their salas differently and looked at the issues from different perspectives. This is where the many conspiracy theorists come into play. They can point to Soriano bravely resisting government pressure while Alameda was unable to resist the pressure from the government. Alameda took a much shorter time to issue his decision while Soriano took longer. But although Alameda took the side of the government, he allowed Senator Trillanes to post bail which was taken by the good senator as victory in itself because he did not go to jail. His apparent strategy was to avoid going to jail at all cost where his ability to open his mouth and say what he wants could be curtailed like Senator Leila de Lima.
The public, however, has not seen the end of his story. The government has many tools at its disposal to deploy in order to get what it wants. So, whether the celebration of the Trillanes camp is premature or not, this will become clearer in the coming days or weeks.
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Has the fight of Deputy Customs Collector Maria Lourdes Mangaoang against her boss Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña come to an abrupt end with her relief and transfer to a non-duty status? It would appear so.
Did she also miscalculate in coming out openly to boldly accuse Sid Lapeña as the most incompetent Customs commissioner? I do not know whether what she did was of her own decision or encouraged by some quarters to challenge her boss. But if it was her own initiative, she should have studied the situation a lot more deeply. She might have overlooked the fact that President Duterte is a different kind of boss. Unlike the previous president who easily abandons his subordinates in case of trouble, President Duterte sticks with his people no matter what. Mangaoang might not have realized that Lapeña and the President go back a long way and that is very important to a boss like the President.
Most agree with her that those abandoned magnetic canisters recovered in Cavite contained methamphetamine and should have stuck with that line and not the incompetence accusation.