Senator Trillanes

I cannot understand why Senator Antonio Trillanes is still in jail. The law allowed him to run for a Senate seat. He won and was duly proclaimed by the COMELEC. He is now a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines, no less. Is it also the law that bars him from doing his job?

I cannot understand why he is still under court martial. The law says that a person who files his candidacy is automatically resigned; therefore, with the termination of his employment in the government, he also lost his military status. He is now a civilian. A civilian being tried in a military court is a novelty that is possible only when the military reigns supreme over civilian authority.

I cannot understand why he should ask the court for special privileges. He deserves none, nor does anybody else, much less a detainee. But he is not supposed to be a detainee. He should be out serving a term, not in jail, but in the Senate. The voters want him there, neither on the streets nor in jail.

I cannot understand how the voice of the people could be trampled upon so easily. When Trillanes ran for the Senate the people were already aware of the Oakwood incident, and this is precisely what galvanized them into action. They liked what he did. Total strangers campaigned and voted for him. Who was he before the Oakwood incident?

I cannot understand why he should be equated with Jalosjos. The latter won despite a crime; Trillanes won precisely because of a crime imputed to him.

I cannot understand why the courts continue to try him for something he did before the elections. The people have spoken. They did not absolve him of a crime. The people said that what he did was not a crime. This is supposed to be the essence of the ballot. It reflects the people’s will. It must be respected, more so by the courts.

I cannot understand why one man, even if he happens to be the Chief of Staff can lord over a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines. It is his will that Senator Trillanes stay in jail. And so he is still there. I am deafened by the silence of his fellow Senators and by their indifference to the injustice being perpetrated against one of them.

I understand why nobody hears the gnashing of teeth for Trillanes. It is drowned by loud grumblings for more urgent concerns, like the CTE-NBN deal; the fertilizer and swine scams that caused the present rice crisis; and the conversion of NFA rice into commercial ones.

I understand why this is happening to our country. We deserve it. We allow a myopic PNP to search in vain for the ubiquitous Lintang Bidol, the guardian of a Pandora’s box.