Ma’am Arlene invades judges’ confab-election

MA’AM ARLENE: One’s person may be violated and his rights abused by his fellows and the authorities, but he can always take consolation in the fact that once he goes to court, he will find redress of grievances, vindication and justice.

That is theory. In practice, it is not always so.

The buzz stirred by our colleague Jarius Bondoc with his column last Monday about a Ma’am Arlene whom he dubbed as the “Judiciary’s Napoles” has not died down, and here comes another scandal involving the same big-time fixer pampering judges at their convention.

Playing in the background is the undying tune about TROs, warrants and decisions for sale!

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WHO CAN WE TURN TO?: We are almost resigned to the reality that corrupt politicians control the Congress and the Palace, but to see even the Judiciary suffering from the same disease prompts us to ask if there is still hope for this country.

Where do victims of abuse and injustice turn to — if His Honor himself is for sale?

The Supreme Court has been asked what it was doing about the corruption perpetrated by Ma’am Arlene, but the media were told that a complaint has to be filed before any action can be taken.

The leaky roof is caving in already, and the High Court is still waiting for a sealed and notarized complaint before moving!

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MA’AM AT WORK: In the bad old days in the province, in hopeless situations we turned to the Nice People Around. If you lost your carabao to rustlers, you reported it to the NPA and you got back your work animal and saw the thieves delivered to Kingdom Come.

Back to Ma’am Arlene. Sources said she was again at the Philippine Judges Association convention ongoing Oct. 9-10 at the Century Park Hotel in Manila, allegedly doing the usual tricks to influence the elections.

A flock of trial court judges were reportedly flown to the Century Park where many were/are billeted for free, with pocket money to boot, all allegedly courtesy of Ma’am Arlene.

Hotel personnel are talking of some judges toting expensive raffle items/gifts, including but not limited to (as lawyers are wont to say) some Hermes bags — through the kindness of Ma’am.

Her operation, perfected over the years, will put to shame the computer-aided magic of Smartmatic and the brilliant commissioners of the Commission on Elections.

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STRAIGHT PATH TO SC: Why are Ma’am Arlene and her ilk interested in the affairs of the judges? Her abiding interest (not in justice itself but in justices) is legendary.

Some worried members of the bench said that in past elections, Ma’am Arlene and her PJA insiders were able to manipulate the results and install some judges into positions of power and influence.

Being officer of a judges’ association is also useful, because from the chosen few could rise appointees to higher courts like the Court of Appeals, which is itself a stepping stone for corrupt justices to move up to the Supreme Court and amass more millions.

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SSS MESS: Christmas came earlier to Emilio de Quiros Jr., president/CEO of the Social Security System, and seven other SSS commissioners who recently got at least P1 million each as bonuses for their supposed good performance.

In contrast, the 29 million workers in the private sector covered by SSS will have to cough up 0.6 percent more in premium contributions to stem the hemorrhage of the system saddled by a ballooning unfunded liability, estimated at P1.1-TRILLION in 2011!

In his last Labor Day message, President Noynoy Aquino justified the extra blood extraction: “If we won’t do anything now, we expect its unfunded liability to increase by 8 percent per year.” What the President should do is replace the inept political appointees mismanaging the SSS.

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PERSONAL EXAMPLE: I beg the indulgence of readers in citing my own experience as related in my Postscript of last May 7 titled “Jail SSS crooks first, raise premiums later”. Excerpts:

“The SSS has no record of my nearly a decade of employment and SSS membership as a staffer of the old Manila Times, where I was a reporter from 1964 until martial rule closed it in 1972.

“Get a copy of the final issue of the Times that came off the press before soldiers swooped down on us that September dawn in 1972 and held the hot copies. The main banner story of that issue, now a collector’s item, was by-lined by a Federico Pascual.

“It cannot be that the management of the Times – then Asia’s largest circulated English language daily -- was not remitting my and my employer’s contributions.

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“IMPOSTOR EXPOSED: The administrative state of the SSS is not only crazy, but also criminal. I was consulting SSS managers who tried to help me. But it seems they were powerless before the entrenched crooks inside.

“Their own sleuthing unearthed the startling fact that somebody had used my name and record to apply for and secure benefits!

“Only an insider or somebody with connections could have done that. It seems that accounts that are not moving, such as those of members who do not get loans, are vulnerable.”

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“SYNDICATE KILLED ME!: My SSS friends assured me that their anti-fraud unit was investigating the misuse of my name and records by an impostor.

“They said they expected to soon corner and prosecute the perpetrators. ‘Perpetrators’ is plural since a lone operator without insider connection cannot do something as complicated as that.

“I left it all to them, thinking that everything was under control. It was under control all right – by the syndicate.

“For lo and behold, they informed me later that when word got around that I was starting to ask questions, the syndicate closed the case by declaring me dead in the SSS files!

“To complete the act, a woman posing as my supposed widow collected the benefits accruing to the estate of a deceased member (me)!”

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