Press Release
June 21, 2017

AN APPEAL TO VOLUNTEERS AGAINST CRIME AND CORRUPTION (VACC)
By Senator Leila M. de Lima
PNP Custodial Center, Camp Crame, Quezon City
21 June 2017

I really find irritating VACC's/Dante Jimenez's repeated threats to file impeachment raps against Hon. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales. But instead of engaging with them via a flurry of scathing remarks, I opted to put forth this fervent plea--

When tragedy strikes, people react by either claiming the role of the victim or that of a crusader. I recall that, when a nine-year-old girl named Amber was abducted and murdered in Texas in 1996, her parents soon established the People Against Sex Offenders (P.A.S.O.), and worked towards the enactment of legislation and adoption of law enforcement protocols that could more stringently protect children. In other words, her parents took on the role of crusader and advocate.

I believe that it was in the same exact spirit of fighting for justice, and finding better solutions to real problems about criminality, that the VACC was founded. From the ashes left by the death of Mr. Dante Jimenez's brother in 1990 and the Vizconde massacre in 1991, it rose to stand as a, by and large, well-regarded and credible anti-crime organization.

This is precisely why it breaks my heart to see such an organization being seemingly used as a mercenary group and some of its members become willing agents of vengeance and demolition. It is like watching the victims, whose memories are supposed to be honored by the actions of the group - be victimized all over again and, this time, be themselves used as the stepping stone or platform for injustice to be done.

I remember, back in December 2010, Dante Jimenez was reported to be resigning from his post as President of the VACC, admitting that he was, at the time, considering "less legitimate options" to continue his fight for justice after Hubert Webb was acquitted by the Supreme Court. Thus, I am aware that he felt personally aggrieved by the decision of the Supreme Court, which included then Associate Justice Carpio-Morales.

But, Mr. Jimenez, I implore you not to bastardize the cause you are fighting for, or to shame the memory of the victims you are representing, by yourself resorting to "less legitimate options" that work injustice towards other people. Do not file frivolous cases against those you have personal grievances against. The work of justice is not the work of retribution; the work of a crusader is not that of an oppressor or a butcher.

Take a page from the actions of your fellow advocate, Mr. Arsenio Evangelista (who strikes me as a decent man), who called for a stop to the "war on drugs", asking for a total cleansing of the Philippine National Police, not wanting reports of official abuse (such as planting of evidence on suspects) to be a cause of "national embarrassment". He called for it for our collective peace of mind.

Yes, we are at war. But I fear that some of us are fighting a war against the wrong enemy - some of us are fighting our conscience, our sense of morality, our understanding of what "justice" truly is. Some of us seem to want to convince ourselves that the end justifies the means, only to find that they themselves are the monster they fear.

Mr. Jimenez, Mr. Evangelista is right. We need peace of mind. And we cannot have peace when there is abuse and injustice.

Be a champion of justice. Reclaim the mission of the VACC. Disassociate yourself and your group from shadowy operators (you know who they are). Let us work together to find real, lasting solutions; ways to improve the investigation, evidence-gathering-and-preservation capabilities of our law enforcement agents. Let us not allow them to take short cuts like planting evidence, suborning perjury and fabricating charges. Violence, frivolous suits and other "less legitimate options" will only destroy what you built.

News Latest News Feed