Senator-judge Franklin Drilon can deny it all he wants, but everyone who has watched him at the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona knows he’s a robed member of the prosecution panel. Just ask former Senator Francisco Tatad, who could not help calling out
Drilon for his performance at the hearings—and who got bawled out by the former ally and Senate president of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for his pains.
And if Drilon’s real role in the trial is still unknown to some, perhaps that incredibly dense palace spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, may be of service. Lacierda, whose job is supposed to be to defend President Noynoy Aquino, came out yesterday in full support of Drilon— who must have been embarrassed by the spokesman’s strident rescue, especially since he really has no need of a two-bit foot-in-the-mouthpiece like Lacierda.
Then again, if Lacierda and his fellow palace propagandists are to be believed, Aquino had nothing to do with the impeachment case—something that Aquino has repeatedly already admitted was instigated by the palace and his Liberal Party. And Drilon never asked Arroyo to move to Iloilo (“because we love you there”) days before Drilon joined the so-called “Hyatt 10” in calling for Arroyo’s resignation.
And, no, the palace impeachment Rasputin doesn’t like Harley-Davidson motorcycles and store-bought Hell’s Angels gear. Not that anyone has really asked, right?
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It’s easy to believe Justice Secretary Leila de Lima when she says that the involvement of Magtanggol Gatdula, the relieved director of the National Bureau of Investigation, in a kidnapping and extortion case was just “the tip of the iceberg” that led to his removal. Yes, there’s more to Gatdula’s removal than meets the eye—but it would be fair to say that the ousted director had very little to do with his own troubles.
Gatdula stands accused (though not formally charged) of involvement in the apparent kidnapping of and extortion bid against a Japanese national who entered the country illegally. That’s even if Gatdula’s only direct involvement in the case was ordering the suspension of two of his subordinates linked to the supposed scam soon after word leaked out about the incident.
De Lima has announced that Gatdula, a former top police officer with links to Senator Panfilo Lacson and a favored member of the Iglesia Ni Cristo church, will be replaced by a “tough and clean” person. Gatdula has denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to fight his removal and to clear his name.
Gatdula’s plan to protest his ouster is justified, if ultimately foolhardy. And that’s not only because he can’t fight City Hall (or Malacañan Palace) but also because his removal is a tiny part of a bigger battle—that of the conviction in the Senate of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Informed sources have disclosed that Gatdula may just be collateral damage, a minor casualty in the impeachment drama. And, as everyone who knows anything about what’s going on in Malacañang these days will tell you, that trial is all that occupies the mind of President Noynoy Aquino.
Most people are aware that the bloc-voting and politically active INC supported Aquino’s candidacy in 2010. This is something that the church’s leadership (now under the helm of a fourth-generation member of the Manalo family, Eduardo) was initially overly proud of, as it would assure that the denomination would continue to have the influence over Malacañang under this dispensation.
True to form, according to these sources, Sentral (as the INC’s Quezon City headquarters is called) presented Aquino early on with a “shopping list” of nominees to various government positions that it wanted occupied by its members—including Gatdula for NBI and Virginia Torres to head up the Land Transportation Office. But these two INC members were apparently lucky because they had backers other than Manalo and his senior ministers; Gatdula had Lacson (a palace favorite since after he resurfaced without fear of being pursued for murder charges) and Torres was a firing range buddy and Tarlac “kababayan” of Aquino himself.
Almost all of the other INC nominees were rejected by Aquino, who apparently felt that he didn’t owe the denomination anything anymore. This elicited anger at Sentral, which promptly withdrew all its other nominees; a cold war between the two groups ensured and rages still.
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This was the way things stood when Cuevas took on the job of heading the defense panel of Corona—something the former Supreme Court justice and senior INC member has been doing exceptionally well. The beating that Malacañang’s handpicked prosecutors from the House and their hired private counsel have regularly been receiving almost singe-handedly from the octogenarian lead defense counsel recently prompted the palace to seek Sentral’s help to ask the former justice to resign as Corona’s defender-in-chief.
The INC leadership, which was not consulted by Cuevas when he took on the job of defending Corona (but which pointedly did not prevent him from doing so after the fact) turned down Aquino’s request. As a direct consequence, these sources said, Gatdula became a dead man walking.
Meanwhile, Gatdula’s removal seems to have been helped along by another palace favorite who has made no secret about wanting the NBI directorship for himself. Customs deputy commissioner ex-General Danilo Lim has publicly announced that he wants Gatdula’s post —apparently because Lim, the losing Liberal Party Senate bet and former military mutineer, is tired of playing second fiddle at the waterfront.
At the NBI’s Taft Avenue headquarters, Lim’s supposed bid for the directorship isn’t sitting well with the “organic” officials, including those who probably helped the palace remove Gatdula by linking him to the alleged kidnapping. These NBI officers now want to disqualify Lim by pointing out the fact that the former general is not a lawyer.
But while the justice department’s top law enforcement agency has been traditionally led by a lawyer (a law degree is a requirement for applicants for NBI agent positions), that is not a rule written in stone. At least two recent NBI directors—Alfredo Lim and Reynaldo Wycoco—were not lawyers.
It’s possible that all of this will come to light soon, if Gatdula makes good on his threat to fight his removal. In the end, that fight may uncover some inconvenient truths that Aquino, De Lima and the rest of the administration want to keep hidden—but his resistance will definitely not stop his ouster from the directorship.
That doesn’t mean that Gatdula shouldn’t expose his tormentors, of course. If for nothing else, the people should know how this government operates, its priorities and how it treats those who helped install it.
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If Aquino and De Lima truly wanted the best person to head up NBI from among the names being “floated” as Gatdula’s replacement, they could do worse than choosing former PNP chief Raul Bacalzo. Of course, given the “love” Aquino and his sympathizers have for the opinions expressed in this column, Frank Drilon would probably turn impartial judge before that happens.
Lim may be the favored bet, but Bacalzo is the right choice. Just saying.
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