A real embarrassment

By: Alex P. Vidal

“An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.” – Mahatma Gandhi

NOT all those arrested by the police and paraded for a mug shot should be ashamed for the rest of their life.

A person can be arrested for a murder he committed by protecting his family or for self-defense. He may be worried about his safety, but may not feel any shame for what he did.

A newsman can be arrested for libel after exposing the truth about graft and corruption and abused of authority and power committed by government, police, and military officials.

He may feel inconvenience, but he may not be ashamed even if manacled and locked behind bars.

A person can be arrested for sedition or rebellion because of his political views, and he may be tormented by the thought of having to spend a long jail term, but, history shows none of those accused of such offense ever showed signs of shame when presented in public.

But if a person is arrested for estafa or any wrongdoing related to financial matters and dishonesty, he will always feel an iota of shame in one way or the other.

Being arrested, however, does not necessarily mean a person is guilty of committing a crime.

The arrest is only a procedure in a criminal case where the accused is presented in court for proper disposition of his case; and the judge will determine whether he can post a bail.

 

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Which brought us to the case of former foreign affairs secretary Perfecto “Jun” Yasay Jr., who was arrested by the Manila Police District (MPD) cops on Thursday afternoon, August 22.

The former chairman of the Central Philippine University (CPU) board in Jaro, Iloilo City was ordered arrested on March 8 by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 8 for “several violations” of the New Central Bank Act in relation to a case filed against him by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The Ilonggo former candidate for senator and vice president immediately questioned “this abuse of process and travesty of justice” in a Facebook post.

The arrest shocked those who knew Yasay as a public servant and former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); he had a sterling record in public service and almost immaculate prior to the report of his arrest.

He is, of course, presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Many of his admirers, especially his fellow Ilonggos, believe he can wiggle out from this trouble. They believe in his innocence.

But the arrest definitely was a real embarrassment for Yasay, his family and supporters since he, along with 5 “associates,” police said, were accused of “conspiring and aiding each other” in securing a P350-million loan from the shuttered Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank while they were officers from 2001 to 2009.

 

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The loan was allegedly accommodated for a certain company called Tierrasud Incorporated, which is owned by Tropical Land Corporation.

The report said: “When the loan was granted, all accused failed to report such loan accommodation to the supervision of BSP, and despite report of examination addressed to all accused instructing them to rectify such violation, failed to do the same.”

The BSP filed the charges against Yasay and 9 other Banco Filipino officials on April 4, 2011. Yasay was then the director of Banco Filipino.

The BSP said Yasay and the other Banco Filipino officials “repeatedly violated several laws” for the following: Willful refusal to stop the conduct of unsafe, hazardous, and unsound banking practices; Falsification and issuance of false statements to hide the true financial condition of the bank; Willful refusal to file audited financial statements; Willful refusal to report DOSRI (directors, officers, stockholders, and other related interest) loans; Twenty-six counts of willful refusal to comply with numerous banking laws and BSP directives

The BSP pointed out that Banco Filipino “engaged in hazardous lending and lax collection policies and practices.”

Let’s hope Chairman Yasay can emerge from this scandal ten feet tall. He is one of the only few remaining outstanding Ilonggo icons in national politics.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)