CRIMINAL TENDENCIES REQUIRE REVIEW OF PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY

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         Let me begin this by saying that Rodrigo Duterte's election victory does not really deserve the hype and euphoria that greeted it.  He was chosen under an undemocratic electoral system that only requires mere plurality of votes to win, not by a majority which is the true essence of democracy.  It was a flawed choice like all the other presidents elected before him under this system and there should be no basis to boast that the mandate of President Duterte was overwhelming.  And it should not be used to excuse or mitigate the indecencies and arrogance in the exercise of presidential powers.

        The time might be premature to make an assessment of  Duterte's  governance, highlighted by his violent and bloody war on drugs, the extrajudicial killings, the illegal shortcuts to do or get what he wants, persecutions, insults, threats and mass slander of people he does not like.  But it is time to pray that those presidential deviations will not inflict some irreversible trauma on the psyche of the nation.  It is time to pray that the unabated rude behaviors  and gutter mouthings of this President will not permanently corrupt the culture, values and attitudes of the young generation of Filipinos now exposed to his example and influence during the years of his tenure.

         For those like me who value and adhere to legal principles, the immediate concern is the routine propensity of Mr. Duterte to commit or direct acts which are otherwise criminal offenses to ordinary individuals and, in the same instance, boasts that he is immune from any suit during his tenure.  So he puts people who draw his ire and dislike to public shame and ridicule with gutter libel; publishes long list of individuals as drug criminals even before they are charged with any offense; openly orders policemen to shoot and kill drug suspects with the incentive and assurance of blanket presidential pardon if needed and habitually insults and threatens those who get in his way.  Convincingly, he is demonstrating that his presidential immunity is a shield to commit criminal acts that have no legal or moral bearing on the exercise of his functions as President but, obviously, only to settle personal scores and, with obvious success, project his tough guy image and intimidate those who would go against him.

        The relevant question then:  Is the presidential immunity a season pass for a President to commit criminal acts unrelated to his lawful functions and be shielded from the moral and legal consequences of his turpitude?  The presidential immunity provided in the 1973 Constitution was rightly intended to protect the President from being harassed or sidetracked with capricious or malicious suits while performing his official functions.  Over time, this was accepted and honored  and none of the conducts and behaviors of past Presidents had been offensive enough to provoke serious questions against the validity and propriety of that immunity.  Until now when the mental aberrations and propensities of this President as everyone is aware of, creates a relevant and desperate need to redefine or limit that immunity.

          The 1987 Constitution does not  have any provision on  presidential immunity.  It was the consensus that it was no longer necessary to restate the 1973 Constitutional provision in the new Charter as the doctrine is already firmly integrated in our jurisprudence.  The immunity then has no more Constitutional anchor and can  now be redefined and circumscribed through legislative action. It is wishful, but Congress (minus the Sottos, Gordons, Alvareses and Farinases) could find the collective sense of responsibility and nerve (to restrain Mr. Duterte) and craft a law that will not jeopardize or negate the ideal intent of protecting the President from harassment suits but will define the nature of private offenses outside the ambit of immunity and for which a sitting President can be sued even while in office.  By doing this, our lawmakers can provide the people, including themselves, a needed deterrent or means of redress for personally motivated or illegal assault on their rights by any sitting President.

       This could be a rare legacy of wisdom and statesmanship from our current herd of legislators.


 

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