LAST week the Senate blue-ribbon committee, began hearings on allegations of fraud in the 2004 and 2007 elections. But instead of yielding testimonies that could clarify the issues and help bring closure to the controversy, it appears that the hearing only managed to confuse both the senators and the public.

The trouble was that the invited resource persons from Mindanao gave contradictory statements. Though they swore by the Holy Koran to tell only the truth, it soon became apparent that they were there to sow confusion and muddle the issue.

Former Shariah Circuit Criminal Court Judge Nagamura Moner, Mindanao election official Rey Sumalipao and Ansari Alonto should have corroborated their separate statements if they were telling the truth. But Moner contradicted himself, while Alonto and Sumalipao almost came to blows after calling each other liars, with Sen. Teofisto Guingona telling them to bring their verbal tussle to the Senate parking lot.

Moner lacked credibility because he had said in a 2005 Senate hearing on the “Hello, Garci” scandal that no cheating occurred in his turf in Mindanao during the 2004 elections.

In last week’s hearing, Moner made a 180-degree turn and claimed there was cheating in 2004 in favor of then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and that he helped cheat in exchange for millions of pesos.

This statement not only contradicted his sworn statement in 2005, but also lacked corroboration since his alleged primary witness, his brother-in-law, has already passed to the Great Beyond.

Likewise, the statements of Moner’s friends, former students and whoever else corroborated his assertion cannot be believed precisely because they are “his witnesses.”

Moner practically exonerated Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former first gentleman Mike Arroyo of any role in the alleged cheating in the 2004 presidential election. This is highly questionable because who else could be the masterminds—as well as the ultimate beneficiaries—of cheating in a presidential election?  

Moner said he was afraid for his life in 2005, and that’s the reason for his stout denial of any poll fraud way back then.

But what could have prompted him to change his tune six years later?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Moner claimed he gave, remitted or sent money to a high official in the previous administration to perpetrate poll fraud during the 2004 elections. But this was categorically denied by his supposed handler as “baseless, unfounded and pure hearsay.”

Moner also claimed he was only attracted by the promise of millions and that he did not ask to be appointed to the Mindanao State University and the Maria Cristina Hydroelectric Power Corp. But didn’t he send his curriculum vitae to MSU and Maria Cristina? And if he says a government official assured him he’d get the posts, how come he didn’t?

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada have both expressed distrust of Moner due to his “flip-flopping testimonies.”

At one point during the hearing, Estrada showed he thinks very little of Moner’s credibility when he asked the witness what assurance he could give that he would not backtrack again in the next hearings. And when Moner claimed he turned down an alleged offer for a higher position in the previous government, Estrada responded with an incredulous “talaga lang ha [really]?”  

Estrada also asked Moner how much he earned as an alleged poll operator in 2004, implying that Moner could also be making money with his present allegations. To Moner, the senator had this query: “Can you give any assurance that would make the people or the Senate believe you now?”

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano pointed out that in the US, witnesses who perjure themselves in testimonies not just in the courts but also in Congress are liable for prosecution. Government lawyers should make an example of Moner to stop lying witnesses from misleading congressional investigations. If Moner admitted lying in 2005, then that should be enough reason to jail him for perjury.

Enrile is right: Let Comelec and the Department of Justice continue their joint investigation of allegations of fraud in the 2004 and 2007 elections, but stop running after people whose credibility is suspect.

Corruption in the judiciary

It is no longer a question of whether there is corruption in the judiciary. Rather, it’s a question of how much money changes hands in any given day.

If the Aquino administration is serious in pursuing the daang matuwid or straight path, perhaps it should conduct a lifestyle check on judges. 

Around town the buzz is that the judges in the Makati business district, particularly those handling real-estate cases, are among the most corrupt.

It is said that one judge in particular has the audacity to render decisions even before he summons the parties in interest and without notice.

His decisions are often made in complete disregard of the constitutional rights of people, depriving them of their pieces of property without due process.

This judge must be compensated so well that he is not in any way afraid of losing his job. He has probably gotten enough money to cover his retirement fund for the rest of is life.

In fact, sources say, he is so affluent that he now goes abroad just to play golf. It is also well known that he spends most afternoons drinking in ritzy bars.

It is high time the government goes after these corrupt and undesirable members of the judiciary before people lose their faith and confidence in the law and ultimately in the country’s leadership.

President Aquino’s daang matuwid and crusade for clean and honest government will not go anywhere if corruption in the judiciary isn’t addressed soon.

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