|
SAN FRANCISCO—The
sixth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks
in the US did little to steal a very important day in
Philippine history in the minds of Filipinos here.
While
Filipino migrants have spent their day working Tuesday,
which is Wednesday in the
Philippines,
they still made sure that they were informed on how
history judged former President Joseph Estrada.
Jonathan
dela Paz, an events organizer in Los Angeles, said he
has been checking the Internet to monitor news in the
Philippines and is aware that the Sandiganbayan is about
to release its decision on Estrada’s six-year plunder
case.
“I
always read [the web sites of Philippine] newspapers. I
was anticipating that he would be found guilty. How
could he explain his wealth?” he said in a telephone
interview.
De la
Paz said while the court has already handed down its
decision on Estrada, he would continue to monitor
“what’s [going to happen] next [to the former leader].”
As early
as 8 a.m. (Philippine time), GMA 7 has been airing its
coverage of Estrada’s promulgation all throughout the
reading of the guilty sentence against him by the
three-member special antigraft court.
On the
other hand, ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel was airing a
game show. By the time the guilty verdict was read on
Estrada, which was still aired live by GMA 7 by past
6 pm in San
Francisco, the Lopez-owned company was airing its most popular
noontime game show Wowowee.
The
Filipino Channel broke the news of Estrada’s conviction
at 8:30 p.m. in San Francisco, which was already 11 a.m.
in Manila.
Joaquin
Gonzales, a politics professor at the University of San
Francisco, admits he overlooked this day because of
9/11.
“I got
distracted by the September 11 anniversary,” he said as
he asked to check the news on the Internet first before
this interview.
Later
Gonzales said he believes that “it’s about time” that a
decision on Estrada’s six-year-old case is settled.
“From
the perspective of Filipinos abroad, this case has gone
too long,” he said.
He was,
however, pleased that the Sandiganbayan was able to show
that not even a “big fish” such as Estrada is immune
from the rule of law.
“It
should signal to the current president [that] she better
watch out. The type of graft charges she’s being accused
of are similar from that they have found him [Estrada]
guilty of,” Gonzales warned.
Gonzales
however felt that the Sandiganbayan’s sentence on
Estrada “fell short of a stronger verdict (and that) the
decision itself is a compromise.”
He was
particularly concerned why the court did not specify
where the ousted leader should be detained. If
Philippine law is followed, the Filipino professor said
a person convicted of reclusion perpetua should be
detained at the New Bilibid Prison.
Whether
they were happy with the Sandiganbayan’s decision or
not, still, Filipinos in the US are still concerned with
Estrada’s fate.
While on
duty, Albert Oliveros, a nurse, called his family in
Quezon City to get the news of Estrada’s verdict.
“Let’s
accept the decision and move on,” he said. |
