Filipinos in Italian Suits

The Corona impeachment trial reveals the Philippines as a corrupt, mob-ruled society built on crooked values. Unfortunately, the mob families are at each others' throats. What is next, machine guns and bodies in the gutters?

Senator Enrile has made the point that the Aquino administration has possibly violated the law by getting Chief Justice Corona's bank information. Well of course they didn't follow legal procedure. No one does when they are out for personal advantage. That's the way the Philippines works, Senator. That is called the "trade of favors" where skirting the laws is an accepted value.

Unless it is your karabao that is being gored. Or If you've got something to hide, you break out the attack.

Senator Enrile knows of power and bending rules, as he is one of the mob bosses. After all, he was a principal in an attempted coup overthrow of President Cory Aquino after she was put in office subsequent to the ouster of Dictator Marcos. The skeletons in his closet have been chewing bullets for several decades waiting to get even for the humiliation of that botched attempt at personal empowerment.

The Aquino family, of course, is going after the Arroyo family with every non-lethal weapon in the book.

The Arroyo family, when a particular little lady was in office, tried to confiscate the entire government through a Constitutional rewrite. You remember that midnight raid? The image of legislators clattering about in the dead of night trying to pull one over on the citizens was classic surreal movie stuff, like the helicopter surfing scene in Apocalypse Now.

The Impeachment Trial is another scene where reality exceeds the most imaginative concoction. What a jaw-dropper. Spielberg couldn’t write a better story. All that is missing is a time machine. But maybe we have that, too, because this stuff is strictly 1930's in style. It ought to be broadcast in black and white. Where is Spencer Tracy when you need him? Jimmy Stewart would be good, too.

The prop department is not up to snuff though, for I have not yet seen a fat cigar or fedora hat stained with blood spots or the horse's head lying there on the Senate floor. I'm sure the guns are in the briefcases though.

The Corona and Santiago families are digging in their heels against due process. One masks as the top judicial officer in the land, a guy who swears his error-strewn financial reports are truthful. The other pretends to be a highly patriotic Senator representing the indignation of the Philippine people; she reminds me of Lucky Ducky, red-faced, screaming "the sky is falling". Or maybe the Queen of Hearts, puff-faced shouting "off with her head", only the head does not belong to Alice, but to a particular prosecuting counsel.

It is farce. High level farce.

The Enrile attack on Aquino is based on bank secrecy laws. The Philippines has the most secretive banking system in the world. Not even law enforcement can gain access. The Swiss are jealous.

The "why" of that secrecy is blatantly obvious. It allows the mob families to hide their ill-gotten riches. Just like the Swiss banks hid Nazi cash.

The prosecution case is a mess, an abridgement of legal discipline and dignity, a witch hunt masking as a presentation of evidence. Across the aisle, the defense engages a dozen hit men in attorney suits surrounding the Godfather of Justice, the (choke) honorable Chief Justice Corona; they are pros, the masters of obstruction and prestidigitation, able to turn Satan into Jesus Christ himself.

The Asian Wall Street Journal ran a report yesterday about coup recruitment taking place beneath the radar by disgruntled ex-army officers, most of whom are disturbed that President Aquino is hunting down corrupt military men. Fortunately, younger men in the service are apparently not buying in.

What am I watching here?

Clowns in Italian suits and spit-slicked hair. Old farts with uniforms and medals in the closet along with their degenerate values.

Clowns who are not laughing.

Old farts with guns.