Bounty

A one-million-peso bounty has been raised by a private group for the capture of each of four leftist leaders who are the subject of arrest warrants issued by the court in connection with a murder case filed against them. Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza, Teodoro Casiño, and Rafael Mariano have not surrendered themselves to the court as this column was written.

Normally, it is the government that offers such bounties. That it was a private group that offered the bounty, disclosed at a press conference called by Ferdinand Topacio, a lawyer with known political links, admittedly raises questions about the motive behind the offer.

Allies of the four leftist leaders, initially hard-pressed to find a good logical defense for their continued snub of a lawful court order, suddenly had a good reason to argue why it was "better" for their colleagues to remain in hiding. The bounty could indeed put their lives in danger.

But it is not entirely the fault of the group that Topacio represents that the lives of Ocampo, Maza, Casiño, and Mariano are now in danger. The four had actually been asking for it. And now that they are getting it, their allies cannot come to their defense with a completely straight face, much less a clear conscience.

It is not as if the bounty offer came like a bolt of lightning in a clear blue sky. The court warrant was issued many days ago, giving the four leftists ample time to submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the court, and the relative safety it implies. But it appears that by ignoring the court order the four had neither the respect for nor the confidence in the judicial system.

But far worse than ignoring the court warrant, the four actually had the gall to taunt the system. From wherever they may have been hiding, they told a secret media interview that they will submit to the law only at their own convenience and choosing.

In other words, they thumbed their noses not only at the law but at the entire Filipino people for whom the law operates and represents. It is as if they are saying that while ordinary citizens must submit themselves to duly constituted authority all the time, they, just like the spoiled brats they often criticize, are not as obligated and are in fact exempt.

Ocampo, Maza, Casiño, and Mariano all say the charges against them are all trumped up and that they are just being persecuted for being critics of the government. But Maza and Mariano have actually been given the chance to work with government but they all blew it. On the other hand, was there ever a government they did not try to always undermine?