The Jose Pidal account: Repository of corruption

According to the secretary general of the Council of Philippine Affairs Pastor Saycon, he has proof that the P450 million bribe in the scandalous construction of the President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard was deposited in the controversial "Jose Pidal" account in the Union Bank branch on Perea Street in Makati City. This is even a bigger amount than what Sen. Panfilo Lacson exposed in his privilege speech. Lacson maintained that the First Gentleman had six bank accounts with a total deposit of more than P200 million.

Last Saturday, Lacson announced that he would formally present his charges on corruption and money laundering against the First Gentleman to the proper court. Lacson stressed that his fight was not personal. "This is about corruption by those in government, those who use government resources to violate our laws and make a mockery of our democratic system. More specifically, this is about the fight of small and lowly citizens who are rising to the challenge to help rid our system of government of corrupt people."

Earlier, the First Gentleman had announced that he was ready to appear in the Senate to answer the charges that Sen. Panfilo Lacson had made against him in the privilege speech. It seems as if the proper forum to answer those charges will be in the court itself.

And now it seems as if Sen. Panfilo Lacson himself may be in deep trouble and his problem involves a multimillion-dollar account that he allegedly owns in the United States. The California Superior Court has turned down Lacson’s petition to junk a lawsuit that a lower court had filed against Lacson involving a 1996 handcuff supply contract for the Philippine National Police. But California Supreme Court Judge James Richman also set aside the default judgment amounting to $3 million which the lower court awarded businesswoman Blanquita Pelaez after Lacson’s failure to appear before the U.S. court.

Let us not have a double standard. Let us have one standard for all government officials. Money laundering is money laundering whether committed here or abroad. The crux of the problem is where did the wealth in question come from? Through the honest efforts of an individual or was it stolen from the people? It is not difficult to explain wealth if it was honestly acquired.We must implement the law and the most important part of the law is the penalty for its violation. Like death, the law should spare no one.As it is, we often have government officials who demand that the law be applied to some offenders, but they themselves are being charged of committing the very same offense. We don’t say they are guilty. All we ask is that they clear their names first. The public is confused as it is. It can’t distinguish between the government official who is making charges and the official who is being charged. All officials must declare and explain the source of their wealth.