IN the Constitution and legal forums and law books, the government of the Republic of the Philippines is cited as composed of three equal branches—the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. The first is headed by the President, the second is the Congress composed of the and the Senate, and the third, the courts led by the Supreme Court.
Each branch has its own powers, tasks, and responsibilities. The executive implements laws and runs the bureaucracy, Congress makes the laws, and the courts interpret them, hear cases and impose punishment on those who violate the laws. The Supreme Court acts as the ultimate beacon of justice and good official behavior, since it can order erring officials and institutions to stick to their original mandates whenever lines are crossed or overstepped. In an ideal world, this setup copied from our American colonial masters may not be perfect but it appears to be equitable and workable in a democratic society.
‘What appears to be just a benign agreement between two government offices is an affront to the judiciary, which has the final say on where a convict should be committed.’
Sometimes, this co-equal-branches status is broken when one department relinquishes its power to another. We cite here as an example the case of Mark Taguba.
While he might have done some legitimate business as an importer in the past, Taguba is now a convicted prisoner or one who — by that stupid euphemism — is called a PDL (person deprived of liberty). Taguba is one of three persons convicted of smuggling P6.4 billion worth of methamphetamine or shabu in 2017. It took years for the prosecutor and the courts to establish his guilt in a highly despicable drug smuggling case, and it is quite a stretch for media to just call him an “alleged” Customs fixer because the truth is he is a drug convict who’s currently serving time at the New Bilibid Prison. He and two others were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Manila court for their roles in the P6.4-billion shabu shipment from China.
Now, on the request of the House of Representatives’ quad committee investigating in aid of legislation the anti-drug war of the previous Duterte administration, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) which runs the Bilibid prison has approved the “temporary” transfer of this drug convict to the House of Representative detention facility in the Batasang Pambansa complex.
Taguba had reaffirmed his seven-year-old testimony linking Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte and brother-in-law Manases Carpio to the drug shipment. Carpio is Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband.
Mark Taguba said that because of this, his life was again put in danger, and so for purposes of future appearances in the committee and citing security reasons, the House requested BuCor to transfer the prisoner to the House detention facility.
The convict will be detained at the House “until the termination of the hearings or until the threat to his life is eliminated,” an arrangement agreed upon with BuCor director general Gregorio Catapang Jr. and approved by Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla. Manila Rep. Benny Abante said House sergeant at arms Napoleon Taas will facilitate Taguba’s transfer from the New Bilibid Prison. Remulla and Catapang should note that the phrase “until the threat to his life is eliminated” simply means indefinitely.
What appears to be just a benign agreement between two government offices is an affront to the judiciary, which has the final say on where a convict should be committed. Is this proof that under the Bongbong Marcos administration, the House led by his cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez, is first among equals?
