The morning radio newscast reported that another case has been filed by Atty. Virgilio Sindico, claiming to represent the Iloilo People’s Graftwatch, Inc., against Iloilo Governor Niel D. Tupas, Sr. and four other Capitol officials before the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Revised Penal Code.
To the casual listener, it would seem that Governor Tupas is facing a serious charge, that he has done something that has harmed or injured the public welfare or interest, such as stealing public funds or pocketing a fat commission from government projects.
However, this case is nothing of the sort.
It is just another harassment case filed by Atty. Sindico who is obviously working with political enemies of Governor Tupas.
He is the same Atty. Sindico who filed the cases against Governor Tupas that the Ombudsman made as basis for handing down a guilty verdict exactly a year ago and used as an excuse to impose the extreme sanction of dismissal from the service.
He is the same Atty. Sindico who got angry at Governor Tupas for refusing to agree to his demand of a higher buying price for the soil set to be excavated from his hilly property in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo and use as filling material for the construction of the new Iloilo Airport of International Standards.
The airport got completed with Atty. Sindico getting any profits from the project while his neighbors got rich having their hilly land levelled and developed into first-class real estate right at the footsteps of the new airport. He became so greedy that he ended up getting nothing while his neighbors are enjoying their windfall.
Anyhow, the decision of the Ombudsman was reversed by the Court of Appeals and ultimately thrown into the garbage bin by the Supreme Court for reason that it has become moot and academic. Under the law, an elected public official is freed from any and all culpability in an administrative cases once he or she is re-elected by the people. The law considers the people as the supreme judge and their mandate extinguishes any sin or omission in administrative cases, even if true.
Now Atty. Sindico is back on the paper mill of cases against Governor Tupas. He is using the name of Iloilo People’s Graftwatch to give a semblance of legitimacy to his grossly political cause. He is once again allowing himself to be made as tool for the political powers that have long been trying to unseat Governor Tupas. He is like a race horse, with blinders to cover his eyes and focus only on a tunnel view straight front, obsessed with the idea of toppling down Governor Tupas. It is the same old story being told all over again, the story of political harassment and persecution.
The best way to deal with Atty. Sindico is ignore him. Just let him pursue his agenda. After all, he cannot really put a good man down.
