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A state witness is defined by my limited legal knowledge as, being a person who has been criminally charged with a valid crime, chooses to help the state in
legally identifying who the true mastermind is. By doing this, this person (charged with a crime) may be given pardon, meaning his/her alleged crime will be
legally forgiven.
A witness is defined as "one who can give a firsthand account of something seen, heard, or experienced." Again, by my limited
legal knowledge... the simple, main difference between a state witness and a witness is. Witness, private sector, whilst a
state witness is, in the public sector, meaning government.
Looking at this word, witness, from afar, it makes it sound as such an admirable occupation. Yet, interestingly enough, witnesses are still people. They're still "human", as they say. I think it was Shakespeare who said, "to err is human, to forgive, divine". Now, that's deep {O_o}, but I believe it means faults, weaknesses, no fear (i.e. respect-or) of God, ego, greed, lust, hungry for power and/or status.
Even under oath, even if they swear on the Bible, they can still lie. They can still make a
legal maneuver by invoking "I invoke my right against self-incrimination".
With this in mind, we jump into the scene of what has happened recently in the Philippines. The Philippines is known for its warm people, diverse ethnic backgrounds, rare and only seen there species, beautiful beaches, caves, majority of the people are bi-lingual even tri-lingual, some more and an
interesting government.
As of November 07, 2013 (Thursday). At approximately 09:00, at the Senate Building of the Philippines (
Senado ng Pilipinas). The "queen of pork barrel" Janet Lim Napoles, alleged to have hoarded more than $23,104,363, of the country's taxes (i.e. people's taxes), has finally received a "fair chance" to "
show her innocence" or given a platform to state what her role is in the pork barrel scam.
The pork barrel scam or PDAF (
Priority Development Assistance Fund), can be summarized as, people's taxes that are supposed to go into infrastructure, education, housing projects, etc... taken advantage of by the sole people elected to make these ventures happen; mayors, governors, congress people, senators and other public servants, even the President himself (President Benigno "Noynoy / Pnoy" Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III), supposedly.
The people of the Philippines, have come into an understanding that the mastermind of this whole scandal is Janet Lim Napoles. But at today's
Senate Blue Ribbon Committee meeting, Miriam Defensor Santiago, current senator soon-to-be
elect judge of the International Criminal Court of Justice or ICC,
made bold (she's known for that) statements that "Mrs. Napoles isn't the mastermind". Senator Defensor, has difficulties believing someone like Janet Lim Napoles (who came from a very provincial family. Who only had enough, enough, often less, but rarely more, to support themselves) can be such a "genius", as to come up with such a ploy to take advantage of not only the private sector (i.e. the people) but the public senator (everything government-related) as well.
Senator
Miriam Defensor, may seem like a lot of things to a lot of people because of her unusually brute-ish behavior yet this woman brings with her a very creditable, admirable, impressive background, a background that demands respect. She's no pushover; she knows what she's talking about, whether it be in the legal aspect or being
street smart. She made it clear, that Janet Lim Napoles, should state something in public whilst she still has the chance to.
By the end of the session, around 15:34, nothing really happened. Janet Lim Napoles, showing up was supposed to be a big deal. It was a chance for her to show her side of the story, a fair platform bounded by the laws of the Philippines yet she did nothing but evade and/or "I invoke the right against self-incrimination" (which is "her right", evidently) questions that I believe weren't "self-incriminating" but more like self-liberating. But hey, as the good book (i.e. Bible) says, we are given freedom to choose right from wrong. Free will is the greatest gift God gave to us.
All this in mind, it drives one to think. Does the legal system truly work? Will there ever be a perfect system? A system of systems? A system by sheer common sense, isn't perfect. It will always have, eventually defects, loopholes.
Do we, the people, truly having confidence and feel secure with our local & national government agencies? What about certain
government organizations such as the NSA (National Security Agency), CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) that "have a mind/agenda of their own"? Isn't that kinda scary to give such power, such authority to people you've never even seen?
A system of government (depends on what kind of government), can have multiple loopholes, hidden codes, secretive transaction that aren't part of their job description. When an
accused, that one can so blatantly tell is lying, shouldn't that person be charged with an additional crime such as perjury?
Janet Lim Napoles, may evade as much as she wants but her demeanor tells the public or whoever is concerned, that the answers to the questions asked are so blatantly obvious.
It's just plainly disappointing. "Can't we all just get along"? Can't we all, just live a normal life without having fear because of this and that, because of that and this, of that because this but was truly this or disappointment.
Just a little food for thought!
Sincerely,
John Arcenas
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How I was inspired to do "Ghost - Abstract". by John Arcenas"
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