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The Lacson Travel Doc Mystery

AT TIMES THE application of law can be so shortsighted it can lose the essence of why laws are made in the first place.

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima is making a big deal on the mystery surrounding the travel document  that allowed Senator Panfilo Lacson to get back into the country from Hong Kong after 13 months in hiding. Of course, it is understandable that the Philippine Passport Act may have been violated. But the context of that potential offense was never to commit a crime but to avoid getting incarcerated for innocence of a crime that may have been made an excuse to persecute a critic of the past administration. If we understand a man who killed someone on self-defense, cannot we do the same on a person who wants to protect his freedom and the honor of the office he is serving?

I would agree with PNoy that getting deeper into the matter in order to put a legal claim on Lacson would be a waste of resources. It is tantamount to a law which had lost its spirit--that spirit that supports the protection of the innocent until proven guilty. Any person persecuted and his freedom threatened will take desperate measures, even violating a minor law, in order to protect himself from a government bent on getting back. I believe every common Filipino will understand that.

Well, of course, it is an affront to the Department of Justice and its law enforcement divisions for failing to get Lacson for more than a year. That is, Lacson has outsmarted them all. It is foolish even to demand from the senator to reveal his friends--friends who helped him in his most difficult of times (should not friends behave that way?)--or to tell them in detail how he outsmarted them (it is like giving a trade secret away that have saved your life so far)?

Moreover, don't government intelligence operatives also use fake documents in their undercover movements in order not to implicate the country who sent them? And will that be inexcusable in the name of national security? In the intelligence world, lots of laws had been bent and even violated in the interest of the country. Should the person's interest in protecting his freedom unjustly assaulted deserve less?

It would be more honest for the Department to admit that they have not the smartest mind in the country, and Lacson have made that clear to them. The Department should instead forget about wounded egos and focus on more important cases than this? Violent crimes, as PNoy said.

At the end of the day, laws are supposedly made to protect the innocent person and prosecute a proven criminal, and not to throw its weight around just to gain respect. Get real! Any Filipino who have Lacson's intelligence and connection will use them in order to avoid getting into jail for a crime he was innocent from.
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