EDITORIAL - Case dismissed

From the results of the 2010 elections and the continuing high performance rating of President Aquino, it can be gleaned that Filipinos like his promise to ensure that under his watch, people will no longer be able to get away with corruption. One reason this problem has persisted has to be the failure of the nation to punish the corrupt, especially the big fish.  

But it’s one thing to launch an anti-corruption campaign, and another to launch a witch-hunt. The administration of daang matuwid should do its best to avoid the second category. One way of doing this is by ensuring that charges of corruption will stick. Criminal cases cannot be put together haphazardly, because it can be embarrassing for the administration when a case is thrown out without even reaching the courts.

Earlier this month, the Office of the Ombudsman junked for lack of merit a criminal complaint for plunder and graft against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former health secretary and Philippine Health Insurance chief Francisco Duque who currently chairs the Civil Service Commission, and 10 other former government officials.

The former officials were accused of misusing P530 million in Medicare funds administered by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. The Office of the Ombudsman, however, noted that the funds reached their intended beneficiaries and could not have been misused. The ruling reversed a recommendation of the Department of Justice in January this year for the indictment of Arroyo and the 11 other former officials.

Accusations must be proved in a court of justice, and successful prosecution requires painstaking work. Every dismissal gives the accused reason to claim vindication from an injustice. In its campaign against corruption, the last thing the Aquino administration should want is to be accused of persecution rather than prosecution – and the accusers having the dismissed cases to show for it.