A drag on public funds

Editor | Tuesday September 15, 2009 00:00

We broke the story last month, though details regarding the government's position were lacking.

Since then there have been a number of reports of individuals taking the government to court or threatening to sue the government over injuries such individuals allegedly suffered at the hands of law enforcement officers. As recently as last week, yet another such person served the government with a letter of demand involving no less than P11 million.

We now hear that the government is engaged in behind-the-scenes negotiations for an out-of-court settlement in the earlier case. A successful outcome for the alleged victim of a police shooting will mean a draw on public funds. A successful outcome for the alleged victim will also encourage similarly maltreated people to make similar claims. This is an unhappy mess to think about because there must be many such people out there.

And as the courts in that manner establish precedent, public funds will become more of an open sesame. Just think about how our hospitals are often merely nurse-infested abattoirs where the Hippocratic Oath is trampled upon, and you will see the point we are trying to make here. And of course, in a country that upholds the rule of law, wronged parties must be compensated. Yet if a settlement is not reached, the public fiscus is further threatened.

Which brings us to the lingering horror of John Kalafatis and the way the political leadership bungled the case, right from the moment someone manifestly conceived of extra-judicial killings as a means to some twisted end to the pathetic and tactless crisis management by inept politicos after the deed was done.

There is no question that illegal activities by our security establishment needs to be addressed once and for all. Not through case-by-case internal investigation, but through an overarching process that can uproot the whole rot. Godspeed to those responsible!

                                             Today's Thought
                            'A lawyer's time and advice are his stock in trade'
- Abraham Lincoln quotes 16th US President (1861-65), who brought about the emancipation of the slaves, 1809-1865