Abalos resigns... what next?

The sudden resignation of COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos was shocking, to say the least. People are divided whether it was the best thing for him to do.

Of course, for delicadeza, it was the only thing for Abalos to do. But where does it leave him now?

In a conversation this afternoon with the mild-mannered and soft-spoken retired Court of Appeals Justice Santiago Javier Ranada, I brought up the subject and said "Well, now that he is no longer an impeachable official, he just untimely opened himself up to criminal prosecution."

Justice Ranada said, "That may be true, but remember that resignation does not mean admission of guilt."

Indeed, Abalos' persecutors still have a long way to go if they want his head on a platter. Abalos may yet turn out to be greatest strategist in all this, knowing full well that by rendering impeachment moot, any alleged wrongdoing on his part will have to be proved the hard way--- beyond reasonable doubt in a criminal case before a fair and impartial court of justice--- instead of the highly political and biased impeachment process.

Meanwhile, as Abalos cries foul! claiming that he was unfairly treated during the Senate hearings on the ZTE deal, oral arguments begin tomorrow on a petition filed by Justice Ranada and another former Court of Appeals justice, Oswaldo Agcaoili, seeking to stop Senate committee inquiries in the Hello Garci case. If the petition is granted, other inquiries in aid of legislation may be halted as well.

The petition alleges that the Rules of Procedure in inquiries in aid of legislation have not been published as required by law.

The two former justices drew flak in the wake of filing the petition, with some opposition senators claiming that they merely want to stop investigation of the Garci case.

Justice Ranada denied this, and ruefully told me, "One newspaper erroneously said that the petition was filed by the 'Garci group.' I did not appreciate that. We are not from Garci's group."

He said a study of the laws in question convinced him that there was legal basis to question the Senate's current conduct of investigation in that case. And that realization, he said, is the only reason they filed the petition.

I believe the man. He is as honest as they come, and he is quick to think and yet slow to speak. Such people usually make sure first that a course of action is the proper one to take. How I wish all our government officials were the same.