By Siesta-friendly
What a government! With moderate greed as the standard of good behavior. Where a $60M (or P2.5B) commission is acceptable. And we had such high hopes in the wake of the Marcos pillage. Even enacting R.A. 7080 (An Act Defining And Penalizing The Crime Of Plunder).
Having witnessed the recent pardon of a President convicted of plunder, public apathy remains. But because said pardon may have just been a defensive move to obtain support against impeachment for her own plundering activities, and in the interest of vigilance (not to mention to keep up with current events), we shall revisit R.A. 7080.
By legal definition, ill-gotten wealth is any asset, property, business enterprise or material possession of any person acquired directly or indirectly through dummies, nominees, agents, subordinates and/or business associates by any combination or series of the following means or similar schemes:[1]
a. Through misappropriation, conversion, misuse, or malversation of public funds or raids on the public treasury;
b. By receiving, directly or indirectly, any commission, gift, share, percentage, kickbacks or any/or entity in connection with any government contract or project or by reason of the office or position of the public officer concerned;
c. By the illegal or fraudulent conveyance or disposition of assets belonging to the government or any of its subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities or government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries;
d. By obtaining, receiving or accepting directly or indirectly any shares of stock, equity or any other form of interest or participation including the promise of future employment in any business enterprise or undertaking;
e. By establishing agricultural, industrial or commercial monopolies or other combinations and/or implementation of decrees and orders intended to benefit particular persons or special interests; or
f. By taking undue advantage of official position, authority, relationship, connection or influence to unjustly enrich himself or themselves at the expense and to the damage and prejudice of the Filipino people and the Republic of the Philippines.
Guess which of the above FG has (reportedly) violated. Might be easier to guess which one he hasn’t. Anyway, so what’s plunder, you ask? Might be anything FG and Mr. Comelec concoct. Jointly or severally. Imagination aside, plunder under the law occurs when any public officer who, by himself or in connivance with others, amasses, accumulates or acquires ill-gotten wealth, through a combination or series of overt criminal acts as described above, in the aggregate amount or total value of at least P50M.[2]
Penalties
And now we enter dreamland. In an alternate reality, people convicted of plunder should suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death. I doubt that’s Erap’s ghost limping around.
Any and all ill-gotten wealth and their interests and other incomes and assets, including the properties and shares of stocks derived from the deposit or investment thereof, shall be forfeited in favor of the State.[3]Although the crime of plunder prescribes in 20 years, the right of the State to recover properties unlawfully acquired by public officers from them or from their nominees or transferees shall not be barred by prescription, laches, or estoppel.[4]
Of course, any public officer against whom any criminal prosecution is pending in court shall be suspended from office; and should he be convicted by final judgment, he shall lose all retirement or gratuity benefits under any law.[5] And the dream goes on.
People may think that with anomalous multi-million peso transactions regularly unearthed like clockwork, R.A. 7080 seems an anachronism better applied in an ideal world. But to aim for that world, it is precisely these kinds of laws that need upholding and implementing to the fullest.
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