Grave threats wrong charge vs Sara
Is Sara’s statement of ‘fear for her life’ a hint that she may really go into hiding, or is she just playing the martyr?
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Is Sara’s statement of ‘fear for her life’ a hint that she may really go into hiding, or is she just playing the martyr?
The GMA YouTube headline screamed: “VP Duterte surrenders, posts bail.”
Grave threats is the wrong charge against VP Sara. It should be plunder, which is unbailable up to a certain amount. The anti-Duterte group did not think over their strategy very well. But it is not too late. If VP Sara is arrested on a new charge of plunder, maybe over the confidential funds, she perhaps can be arrested.
There is a fear, however, that if she is arrested, VP Sara may follow the escape moves of Senators Loren Legarda and Bato dela Rosa. Legarda secretly left the country with her son, Leandro, on separate flights. (Note: The salaries of Legarda and Dela Rosa have been frozen. For VP Sara, the salary is peanuts and irrelevant.)
Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta, and former Senator Bong Revilla, were arrested on separate charges of plunder. Plunder over the amount of P50 million is unbailable. They are all still in jail as of this writing.
Estrada has been charged with allegedly taking kickbacks of P570 million from flood control projects. Marcoleta has been charged with plunder over his alleged failure to declare P75 million in campaign donations. Bong Revilla was charged with malversation of funds over a ghost flood control project. (Source: AI).
Both Estrada and Marcoleta, however, requested treatment for health problems, a normal ploy of arrested officials. Understandably, the hospital is more their comfort zone than jail. So, hospitalization for a common cold is better than jail.
VP Sara said she does not trust the courts, the police, and the government, and is in fear for her life. (Source: GMA interview)
A commenter on social media said: “How can she fear for her life when she has 400-odd security guards on her payroll?” Is Sara’s statement of “fear for her life” a hint that she may really go into hiding, or is she just playing the martyr?
The arrest and detention of political figures is common in the Philippine political landscape; for example, Presidents Erap Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Are we a nation of rogue lawmakers and presidents?
If VP Sara goes into hiding, which is highly unlikely — and would be tantamount to admitting guilt — it may be the end of her ambition to run for president. If she does not go into hiding and is convicted by the impeachment court, she may not be allowed by law to run. Clearly, VP Sara has a big pre-election dilemma.
If Sara is not allowed to run for president, China and the pro-Duterte faction will weep, and the US and the PBBM faction will celebrate. That is the principle of proxy politics.
Is it possible that God will not allow a Duterte to rule over the Philippines once more? If so, will the Duterte dynasty vanish in the blink of an eye, never to resurface — a wish of the anti-Duterte movement? Only God knows.
