Lawmakers or lawbreakers?

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Bambi L. Harper

WE'RE all too familiar with them: first, the ubiquitous sound of a screaming siren and a phalanx of motorcycle cops and security vehicles proclaiming the advent of a sleek, shiny behemoth, usually black, with the No. 8 or No. 7 plate, followed by an equal number of more security vehicles going through red lights while the rest of the taxpayers stew in traffic. They are the entitled who, ostensibly in the public's service, must not be held up by something as mundane as a traffic light.

It may be due to our feudal history and background that government officials have more and more taken the mantle of privilege and act as though they consider themselves above the law. It may also be for the same reason that no one questions the use of public funds for the purpose? Does the ordinary overseas Filipino worker, despite being hailed as a hero for propping up the nation's economy with his remittances, have some alalay-lawyer meeting him at the airport to speed him through customs? Don't be silly. You are aware, of course, that some people can have their representatives present their passport and wait for their luggage while they themselves take off with their sirens and security without having to be hassled like ordinary mortals.

An obscure mayor of an obscure town in Cebu was reported to have ordered the arrest of four DPWH engineers for removing billboards he had installed on two overpasses he considered "unattractive." Hopefully the billboards didn't have his face plastered on them or the reader might have concluded that it was his image that ruined the scenery. The question here is, would an ordinary citizen be able to do what he did, i.e., order the police to handcuff four men who were guilty of nothing more than injuring his ego?

Or remember the city mayor who went ahead and had a parking structure constructed despite the DENR secretary's order not to do so? What does it tell you about democracy in this country? Or respect for the law?

Which brings me to the Lapu-Lapu statue of senator-elect Richard Gordon. Many of you may have forgotten by now that Gordon marched and advocated the retention of the US bases, which caused the usual pro-American and Amboy tags to be attached to his name. For this reason, Gordon may have chosen to play the nationalist/patriot card with his scurrilous Light & Sound show in Intramuros and the humongous Lapu-Lapu statue that overshadows Rizal's ...