Where is the equal protection of the law?
In all modesty I have always been an advocate of the principles written in our constitution. Among the basic precepts of which is the provision that reads “no person shall be denied equal protection of the laws.” Whenever I read this proviso in the last 40 years of my teaching Constitutional Law, its depth unfolds, such that I always endeavor to find application of its profundity in many events.
Like the most recent act of President Rodrigo Duterte. A national paper reported he “was throwing in P20 million to raise the bounty to P50 million” for anybody who can help authorities find the killers of Ako Bicol Representative Rodel Batocabe.
At first glance, this is a ponderous financial push in the investigation of the murder. Fifty million pesos is so irresistible to the jaundiced eye of the materialistic. Any would-be informant salivates at this. At least, that is the theory. We can never doubt the availability of the bounty especially as it is dangled by no less than the president. “Kwarta na ni nga malabo” in the language of those who sanctify money. It must help the investigation and quickly result in the prosecution of the parties responsible. Any delay in bringing the suspected criminals to justice erodes our faith in our country’s justice system.
Allow me to look at this offered presidential bounty from an off-tangent perception without attempting to erode its objective.
To start, the frontiersmen keeping our peace and order are our policemen. Fighting lawlessness is their sworn task. They are trained to secure lives and properties and they are paid for that. It follows that the capture of Batocabe’s assailants is their primary duty. Of course, public cooperation is helpful. But, when Duterte added to the kitty, he added another dimension to the search for justice. It might not really be his intention, but he demonstrated his distrust of the police. He showed that our policemen might be incompetent to solve the crime and that he needed to bribe either or both our uniformed men and people for the investigating authorities to produce result. I remember that after US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, Lee Harvey Oswald was caught with no bounty being offered for anyone to give information about Kennedy’s killer.
I opened this write-up with part of our fundamental law on equal protection. To highlight the impact of this law, let us recall the murder of Ronda, Cebu, Vice Mayor Jonnah John Ungab. It has been several months since that crime but still our police are unable to solve it. Is it because they are incompetent? In which case, how safe are ordinary mortals like me? If elected officials get gunned downed and the criminals go scot-free, are we civilians fair game for murderers? On an even more disturbing level, the president never offered any reward to solve Ungab’s murder. Ungab might have occupied a lower position compared to Batocabe and the disparity of their constituencies could be the reason why Duterte is selective in the use of his power. Is this not inequality in the protection of the law?
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