La Viuda Loca

Trying to sound righteous but only succeeding in appearing arrogant, the senators lectured Corpus and tried to intimidate him into backing down.Perhaps they didn´t know him enough. Vic Corpus does not back down. And,those who know him well say--only half-jokingly--that he is programmed not to tell a lie. As his superior, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said of himbefore the Senate committee hearing on Friday, "He cannot be pressured to doanything unless he believes in it."
What he believes is that the country is slowly being turned a narco-state,and that Ping Lacson, his student at the Philippine Military Academy who rose to become PNP chief under the discredited Estrada regime, and now senator, is the evil hand behind it.
An incensed Senate called Corpus to a public hearing to put him in his in place, and they did succeed in making him admit that he cut corners to get he information he needed, and that his information thus far would probably not stand in court. But they could not divert him enough to buy into their agenda. Senator John Osmeña could only see political motives for Corpus´ campaign against Lacson, accusing the ISAFP chief of putting Lacson under
investigation because he was a "presidentiable" for 2004 who had to be eliminated from the political scene to make room for the ambitions of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Renato de Villa or Angelo Reyes. Senator Rodolfo Biazon, frequently referring to his 34 years in the Armed Forces, tried to discredit Corpus for not strictly adhering to the chain of Command when he took up the investigation of Lacson´s alleged hidden wealth, drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom and other murderous activities. Robert Jaworski tried but failed to discredit Corpus when he could not even begin to pronounce the word "preposterous" correctly.
Nene Pimentel, who seems to have forgotten what it was about him that excited the idealists in the public when he was a young mayor who stood up to Marcos during the martial law years, castigated Corpus for being true tohimself and pursuing persistent and strong leads indicating that Ping Lacson could be the most nefarious drug lord of them all.
The grilling of Corpus took some four hours and the senators threw
everything they could on him, but Vic remained focused, steadfast, and even smiling. He answered all their questions, taking his time to describe his career, including his defection to the New People´s Army and why he eventually surrendered.
Vintage Corpus was his extensive and enthusiastic response to Sonny Osmeña´s questions about his three-year posting on the island of Panay, overseeing a massive tree-planting project as part of the Army´s counter-insurgency operations. He described the program in such detail and with such obvious pride that Osmeña himself begged to be spared the avalanche of environmental information that he had inadvertently touched off.
Even his inquisitors at the Senate had to admit grudging admiration for the earnest Col. Corpus. They ended up prefacing their questions with paeans to his nationalism, patriotism, sincerity and good intentions. They had to, or they would have looked like fiends feasting on this truly upright officer, a rare and precious bird indeed. And for what? To help get Ping Lacson, who has far too many detractors with sordid tales to tell of murder and mayhem to be as clean as he claims to be, off the hook?
Corpus´ clear-eyed idealism resonated strongly with a public hungry for heroes, and at the Senate hearing, he showed himself to be someone truly admirable (which will probably earn him no points in the upper chamber, where some truly Machavellian mind is sure to see him as a possible rival for the presidency in 2004). Unencumbered by a private agenda or even an ego, he honestly admitted to his shortcomings and apologized repeatedly for his errors. But he could not be diverted from his message to the Senate--that one of their members is a dangerous criminal, a drug trafficker, a killer of the hearts and souls of our youth--and they, the senators, could either help stop him for love of country, or protect him just because he is one of them. It was a courageous thing to do, challenging the senators on their own turf, and Corpus admitted under questioning by Nene Pimentel that he simply wanted to jolt them. It was quite a scene: Corpus, clear-eyed, determined, but smiling, seated across a line of stern-faced sanctimonious legislators,presenting his case with earnestness and conviction as they tried to stop him.
The senators may know all of the legal booby-traps that could yet stop Vic Corpus´ crusade against narco-politics in its tracks, but last Friday, it was obvious to the public which side was right. The senators couldn´t hold a candle to the purity of purpose of Col. Victor Corpus.
Corpus rules!