Senate inquiry gone omnibus

Senate inquiry gone omnibus | Daily Tribune

There’s no single universal view of that Senate inquiry that literally persecuted one Alice Guo as an alleged China spy, fanned the flames of Sinophobia and the anti-Chinese narrative, made her the sacrificial target of an inter-agency case buildup to the caliber of a national security threat, stripped her of the mantle of governance as a local chief executive.

Post-executive session articulation indicated that the legislative purpose of the author of that Senate resolution eventually consisted of only three things, viz.: 1) a total ban on POGOs; 2) an overhaul of late birth registration (LBR); 3) undoing PAGCOR’s role as operator cum regulator.

Strictly, none of these worn-out proposals concern Guo as a municipal mayor, Bamban as a local government unit, or the Senate which should instead focus more on national affairs than local politics by the simple principle of subsidiarity.

In broad strokes but not of genius, the senators painted the grim scenario of organized criminal syndicates from mainland China bribing their way to seats of power, building their “business empire” in a massive economic and infrastructural boom now deemed “criminal,” mobilizing government machinery in an inutile search of a paper trail of bank transactions, either electronic or via tons of cold cash.

How much does an hour of a Senate public hearing cost taxpayers from the moment this grand zarzuela commenced up to when the committee report would have been drafted but God knows when? How many more mayors, politicians, business moguls, country residents and tourists — all with Chinese blood and accent — would be in the crosshairs of unyielding, unforgiving senators in this emerging ethnic cleansing?

A large volume of opinions, commentaries, editorials scrawled and sprawled over all the media landscape cannot outdo the Senate as a central “rumor” mill of recent days and weeks. How come there seem to be only two alternating voices out of the 24-senator make-up that are supposedly sitting down in this Guo inquiry to ferret out the truth of this whole shebang?

So far, the PSA-issued birth certificate has been condemned as a “fake,” entries thereon making it appear the mayor is a Filipino born to one Angelito Guo and Amelia Leal, the latter whom Alice claims to be her mother, a Filipina housekeeper. Her late birth registration was likewise the object of suspicion, as if it had to be explained why it took 17 or so years before poor Alice secured it for whatever purpose.

One editorial went as far as to question why Guo’s supposedly rich father did not bring his wife to the hospital but had her birth at home. Worse, it dismissed the late birth registration as an easy and vulnerable process since documents submitted are taken at face value, which would be preferred rather than applying for naturalization.

Are the rules on late birth registration and its requirements truly vulnerable to abuse or misuse as a backdoor entry for fugitives and criminals? Could the Guo family have planned this all along, waiting 17 or so years to launch this Trojan horse of a crime?

The proverbial blindfolded Lady Justice is a symbol of impartiality and fairness. It represents clear-sightedness and the virtue of justice because justice is unbiased and should not be based on a person’s appearance or other outside influences.

When the Senate inquiry smashed the dignity of a lowly municipal mayor to smithereens, it only showcased how uncharacteristically the body failed to be “free from passion and prejudice.” In the first place, it’s quite strange how its brand of justice became partial and subjective — cynical about facts, evidence, statements or oral testimonies so far advanced.

If the culminating part of this whole congressional imbroglio simply gravitates around the three-fold legislative measures, then why pay the plumber who does not know where to tap the pipe? Any and all of those proposed pieces of legislation are alien to the manner the inquiry took off at the outset.