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as i write this the skies around the metro have suddenly darkened, thunder and lightning alternately warning of the heavy rain that is to follow. is this a sign of things to come? is this an omen for what awaits tomorrow? it is 3:00 in the afternoon, the day before the announcement of erap’s verdict.

tomorrow’s promulgation of former president joseph “erap” estrada’s plunder case is eagerly anticipated by a whole nation of politics-crazed filipinos. the media has been drumming up interest on the event as early as last month. news reports of lawyers analyzing the merits of the case are featured almost every night on all the networks. newspaper ads from the government remind the public to keep calm and accept the rule of law, while the opposition and erap’s lawyers predict an all-out victory and vindication. we’ll never really know until the promulgation tomorrow.

based on informal polls among friends and family, the result will be an overwhelming “guilty” if we are the ones to decide. the "boracay" mansion, the lavish lifestyle of his family, his other families, and his other, other families (how many are there?), erap admitting to signing the bank account as jose velarde, clarissa ocampo’s testimony, chavit’s testimonies of money changing hands and midnight transactions over mahjong. and there are still more evidences. so many facts point to a guilty erap estrada but these are not the sole bases of the case. law and justice is not really an exact science, and many other factors determine the merits of the case other than evidence. commoners like us not privy to the proceedings do not know how these facts were presented in court, how they were rebutted. that’s what lawyers are for. the best of them can twist the law to its maximum extreme for the benefit of clients. other determining factors are the credibility of the witnesses, and the objectivity of the judges. bilog ang mundo (the world is round) and anything can happen. we’ll just have to wait and see.

but like most pinoys i am earnestly watching this latest political twist with bated breath, knowing that this is not only a question of guilt for erap et. al., but it will have far more impact on our society and our future than what we know now. let us just hope that the rule of law will be aptly applied and the decision will be objectively accepted on all fronts.

postscript: after much haggling, local radio news a few minutes ago report that the courts have finally agreed to allow live broadcast of the promulgation.

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anticipating the erap verdict

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