FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


FILIPINO FUGITIVE'S FALL UNDER AMERICAN JUSTICE

Notwithstanding the sad expectation that the Philippine Senate would not be interested in passing a Resolution, according to an email I received from Sen Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel late last year, to acknowledge my whistleblowing activities about the existence of a fake Philippine passport syndicate involving top foreign affairs and immigration officials during the Marcos era, I still am ready to help in whatever capacity as a United States citizen to promote justice and the rule of law in the Philippines. This time I'm glad to inform the Philippine Senate that “just for a little while” former top Arroyo official, Jocelyn “Joc Joc” Bolante, who is wanted for questioning by a Senate investigating committee regarding charges of large-scale misappropriation of public funds for a vote-buying spree during the 2004 presidential elections will be deported back to the Philippines by U.S. Immigration officials.

I am a persistent man in the pursuit of justice and I sacrificed a lot for such persistency from Manila to New York City - from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But history tells us that though justice may be losing during the early rounds, it finally triumphs in the last round. I believe this is how God wants it to be as the Holy Bible tells us.

The United States Board of Immigration Appeals rendered the final administrative decision to have Mr. Jocelyn Bolante removed or deported back to the Philippines after losing his appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision denying his asylum application. Though Bolante's lawyers recently filed a Petition for Review before the 7th Circuit of Appeal, it can be said to be an exercise of futility since the Appeals Court recently denied Bolante's motion to be released on bail during the pendency of the petition.

What makes the United States a nation apart from the rest of the world is that the American government is indeed ”a government of law, not of men.” Despite the fact that the American democratic process may be long and circuitous, the symbolical American “ lady of justice” is blindfolded that no glitter of gold or silver can tarnish her. It has no respect for anybody who transgresses the law that even a popular former president of the United States, Bill Clinton, suffered legal sanctions for lying under oath about his sexual relations with a White House intern.

The Philippine Senate would be the most recent beneficiary of American justice when it finally receives into its custody Mr. Jocelyn “Joc Joc” Bolante upon his impending removal from the United States.

End
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