Selective Persecution

Was Emilio Ramon “ER” Ejercito’s dismissal part of the tactics of the present administration to marginalize the Ejercito clan? Maybe not. Be that as it may, it is the duty of the government to penalize those who violate the law. There is nothing wrong about it. In fact, it is a good indication that our government officials are doing the task assigned to them. But why ER only? Where are the others? Is he the only candidate in this country who overspends a lot of money during election campaign? COMELEC may have done its duty in apprehending Ejercito but it is obviously unfair if it will choose which candidate it will persecute.

People say politics is the root cause of Ejercito’s dismissal from his post. They may be correct or maybe not at all. Now, if the government wants to revamp itself, it should be fair in doing so. It should not choose its nemesis only but its own allies as well. Should the government would be covering up all the acts of those who secretly violate the law and apprehend those who openly breaks the law then its effort in reorganizing itself would be baseless and meaningless for being unfair and bias in who to prosecute and who to not.

In the case of ER Ejercito, he may have really overspend during the election campaign last summer, still he violated the law. For the government, it is the duty of the latter to apprehend those who break the law but it is not part of its duty to select which violator to penalize or apprehend. In sum, if the government is after those who violate the law, they must be fair, unbiased and neutral for it is the proper way of showing to the people that our government is seriously doing its job.