And building a stronger justice system requires audacity. This country needs leaders who have the audacity to investigate their own allies, prosecute members of their own political machinery, and allow institutions to operate without political interference. We need leaders courageous enough to accept that the rule of law must apply even when the person being investigated is a friend, a relative, or a political ally. This is also where the professed Christianity of our leaders should mean something.
Our politicians are fond of invoking God when convenient. They quote Scripture whenever they speak, as Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has been doing regularly. We see the Senate and almost every other government agency pray before meetings. Candidates boldly invoke Christian values during elections. But the Bible reminds us: ‘The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.’ (Proverbs 15:3) Anyone who believes that leaving the country means leaving accountability behind ought to remember the omnipresence of Almighty God. They may temporarily evade a law enforcer just like Senator dela Rosa did within the Senate premises. They may evade a warrant similar to mother and son legislators Loren Legarda and Leandro Leviste. They may cross international borders in the same way former congressman Zaldy Co did pending an investigation. They may even find a government willing to give them refuge as former Cabinet Secretary Harry Roque has been trying to do.
But they cannot be beyond the reach of God. Being unseen by government does not mean being unseen by God. That may be the reminder our politicians need most. Power and positions are temporary but accountability is not. The right to travel is not a constitutional passport to impunity. I agree that we should uphold all rights, whether to travel, to due process, or to the presumption of innocence. But we should protect the integrity of government processes with equal determination, especially against the powerful.
Someone who claims innocence must face the investigation, the charges, or the arrest, no matter how flawed the process may be. Someone who claims political persecution should be allowed to prove it through evidence, as former Senator Leila de Lima spent years doing before her acquittal.
But nobody should accept that the Philippines is a country where the first response of the corrupt to any investigation is to look for the nearest airport. For believers, there is a destination from which nobody sinful can flee. There is no constitutional right to travel away from eternal judgment. No political connection can delay it without genuine repentance. No foreign passport can protect anyone from it. Unless, of course, one acquires that greater citizenship in God’s kingdom while still here on earth. And no lawyer or mediator can ultimately stand between anyone and that destination unless His name is Jesus Christ. For it is written: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ (John 14:6)
Judgment Day has no immigration counter except Jesus Christ.
Siegfred has a diversified set of education and experiences which has made him a game changer and a servant leader in organizations. His professional degrees came from the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. His corporate experiences include stints as general counsel for the country’s flag carrier, a food exporter with manufacturing plants in Davao and in Laguna, and a sports distributor company. Siegfred is a former soldier and a lawyer by profession, a teacher and inspirational speaker by passion, and a book author and a writer with a mission.