Napoles and her bulletproof vest

I know that so much hangs in the balance. We watch these hearings that are trying to bring the truth to light about the PDAF scandal. 

We are witnessing a critical point in our history, and how this is resolved (or isn’t), is going to define us as a country and a people for years to come. And yet my first response when I saw the footage was to laugh. 

 

I looked at her in that bulletproof vest and I found the image absurd. I wasn’t expecting her to be wearing one. And I guess I’m too used to seeing Kevlar and people wearing their vests under their clothes in movies and on TV, that seeing that big, puffy, almost hip-hop-looking vest on her made the whole thing seem absurd. As if we needed any more absurdity in these political hearings turned media circuses. 

 

It’s funny how the vest or chaleco seem to be a crucial piece of government fashion. You see people making presentations in these terrible-looking, tacky colored things, and you know they are either unaware of or are intentionally ignoring the concepts of power dressing. Obviously, we shouldn’t judge books by their covers. But the chaleco really challenges us to respect people who are wearing them. 

 

The overall importance of the chaleco to political campaigns and government service seems unquestioned. The more interesting thing to look at is why Napoles needs that thing. Sure, it’s to prevent an assassination attempt. But look at the larger implications of this chaleco in this context. 

 

We’ve all already felt the hurt from the thieving that has been done. From the personal level, all the way up the upper levels of our society, the money stolen in this scandal could have meant so much. It’s money we’ve lost, and we’d be lucky if we ever got it back. 

 

Now, it’s not enough that all that cash has been lost. We have also been asked to shoulder the costs of investigating and trying these people. It’s government money that goes into this, so really it’s our money, all this hard-earned money, being appropriated. So after we lost a bunch of money, we have to spend a bunch more money to uncover and hopefully punish the people who stole our money. 

 

In our pursuit of justice, we are observing due process. As a result, we are following the rule of law and the system. As part of this we are paying for jailing Napoles (I mean, really, hasn’t she lived off us enough?), and we have to pay for the convoy that transports her to and from the hearings. The kind of security that is necessitated by these trips is massive, and it’s been reported that one trip costs something in the neighborhood of P150,000.  

 

We are funding all of the operational costs in investigating and trying her. I’m not above talking about the money we’re using for air-conditioning at the hearings and the fact-finding, talking about the payrolls of all the people involved in each little circus event that happens. All this is happening on the people’s dime right? 

 

How much time and how many times will we have to go through with this before we see any kind of justice meted out? 

 

Yes, I’m impatient. But, considering the billions we’ve lost so far, wouldn’t it make sense that I would want to spend as little money and wait as little time before getting results?

 

The ironic thing is that despite the many times that we the people have been burned, we still want justice to be served. We actually believe in hearings, we believe in due process. We’ve watched two presidents plunder and walk (and re-establish themselves in political positions! How crazy is that?). And here we are again, sitting in front of our TVs, hoping and believing that these hearings will bring us the truth, that names will be revealed and information volunteered and we will get a taste of justice. Also we believe that once the process of justice begins, it will lead to our country becoming better and our government getting cleaner. 

 

It is precisely because we believe that Napoles doesn’t have to fear us. We don’t want her dead. We want her to talk. She doesn’t have to wear that bulletproof vest around us. We, the people, don’t want to put a bullet in her. Some people might feel it’s right to knock her about. I am more inclined to make her live in a slum and force her to eke out the life that she has forced so many of her countrymen to be trapped in. But I don’t see any assassination attempts coming from the people. 

 

The irony of the situation is that it’s her accomplices, it’s the people that she worked with who steal from us, that want her dead. So we’re paying to protect her from her former friends. These people that she regaled with lavish parties, these people who’ve taken advantage of us all these years, who’ve oppressed us and who’ve stunted our country’s development because of their greed and thievery, these are the ones who want to put a bullet in her. 

 

They wanted the same things. They wanted money. They worked together to steal from us. And now they want her silenced. Considering that first hearing where Sen. Santiago couldn’t pry anything from Napoles, it’s clear that she wants to stay quiet too. 

 

I guess we can see there are two very different sets of values at play here. We’ve got the den of thieves, covering for each other and trying to keep things quiet. I’m sure if they could ensure her silence with a bullet, they would. 

 

And then there’s us. We believe in the system. 

 

It’s a system that the thieves have gamed, a system that they played and manipulated and took advantage of. Heck, they continue to take advantage of the concept of due process and justice to prolong their judgments. 

 

Still, we believe. I think it’s a testament to us as a people that we want the system to work as much as we do. It seems it’ll be much easier to get through that barricade and that vest than it will be to get to the truth. 

 

Let’s hope that we can find the justice equivalent of a .50 Cal and shoot straight through all the obstructions being placed before us. – KDM, GMA News 

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Carljoe Javier is a professor at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and the author of the non-fiction book “The Kobayashi Maru of Love.”