The Justice Secretary and Freedom of Speech

It was reported over the weekend that Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales had ordered the prosecution of Sen. Lacson’s three (3) jueteng witnesses.  It seems all of them had admitted that they were engaged in the illegal numbers name and on the strength of these admissions, they should go to jail.  It will be recalled that when Gov. Chavit Singson went public with his allegations against Pres. Estrada, he too admitted to being involved in jueteng. I’m not sure if it’s in relation to Sec. Gonzales’ announcement but Gov. Singson is now singing a different tune.   Still, the prior admission is no different from those made by Sen. Lacson’s witnesses and therefore Sec. Gonzales should not discriminate.

Furthermore, Sec. Gonzales should be more careful when ordering the prosecution of people who have admitted wrongdoing.  Not all of them have to be pursued by the authorities.  Otherwise, noone would assist the government in putting other people in jail except when they have committed no crime.  Public policy however allows “guilty” witnesses to testify and our law even encourages them by providing protection.  It seems that Sec. Gonzales has opted not to protect these witnesses but instead use the full force of the government to retaliate. 

This speaks volumes about Sec. Gonzales as a Justice Secretary.  Obviously, he’s concluded that GMA (Ginoong Mike Arroyo) and the others are innocent even before he’s heard the evidence.  That being the case, the only ones guilty of a crime are the witnesses.  I’ve never seen such raw efficiency from any government official in making a factual determination.  But then again, he may have other motivations — like the enforcement of our anti-gambling laws.

Perhaps our Justice Secretary should pull back and consider what he’s doing in relation to the Constitutionally-protected right to freedom of expression.  If less than innocent people are threatened by the State against making disclosures that are beneficial in upholding the rule of law, then shouldn’t that action itself be considered a violation of the Constitution? And should the person calling for such action sit as a top law enforcement official of the land?