Moral turpitude

IN THE PHILIPPINES, moral turpitude generally refers to acts or crimes that are deemed contrary to justice, honesty, and good morals, indicating a serious lack of moral character. These are offenses that reflect a disregard for societal norms and a deliberate violation of accepted moral standards. 

Crimes often associated with moral turpitude include acts like violence against women and children, kidnapping and offenses that involve dishonesty, fraud, or deceit. The usual consequences are: loss of credibility, professional license and employment or position.

Having set the tone, let me just park this:

Incumbent ACT Teachers party-list’s Rep. France L. Castro was found guilty by a court of child abuse and sentenced to several years of imprisonment.

In a decision promulgated on July 15, 2024, the Regional Trial Court, Branch 2 of Tagum City, Davao del Norte found Castro, among others, guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 10(a), Article VI of Republic Act No. 7610 or the Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act and sentenced to suffer the penalty of four (4) years, nine (9 months and eleven (11) days of prison correccional, as minimum, to six (6) years, eight (8) months and one (1) day of prison mayor, as maximum.

This begs the question: Why is France Castro still strutting in the House of Representatives with a holier-than-thou attitude and not in jail? She even has the audacity to run for a Senate post.

And we segue to a recent Senate inquiry. Former Communist Party of the Philippines / New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) member Ida Marie Montero alleged how a member of the Makabayan bloc in Congress knew he would be involved in recruiting for the New People’s Army.

She also alleged that this Makabayan bloc member had undergone “revolutionary integration” at an NPA camp and personally informed her that he would have a different role within the CPP-NPA-NDF (National Democratic Front).

Also in that Senate inquiry, another former CPP/NPA member, Kate Raca, insisted on the Makabayan bloc member’s alleged involvement in recruiting for the NPA.

Interesting, Congress seems to be the next CPP-NPA-NDF front developing, using government resources to undermine the government.

As expected, the pseudo-communists pulled out the “victim card” i.e. “red-tagging”. Makabayan leaders and candidates filed on Tuesday an election offense complaint in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., executive director of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), for what they described as a series of red-tagging and defamatory statements aimed at the coalition and its candidates during the campaign period.

And this is NTF-ELCAC’s reply:

“Unfortunately for them, the Filipino people can already see through this overly familiar pattern: vilify the institution that dares to expose the links that bind supposedly ‘legal organizations and individuals’ to the CPP-NPA-NDF by painting themselves as victims, propagating divisive rhetoric and exploiting our democratic processes.

“The NTF-ELCAC is not in the business of fabricating allegations. We are mandated under Executive Order No. 70 to dismantle the machinery, both underground and aboveground, that sustains the communist insurgency in this country. Our statements are based on facts, not far-flung fantasy. We have testimonies and declarations from former CPP-NPA-NDF cadres and ex-Makabayan bloc members who have come forward to attest to the ideological, political, and organizational linkages between these groups.”

Incidentally, the March 16 statement cited in their complaint does not incite violence; it issues a challenge for Makabayan leaders to finally and unequivocally denounce the terrorism, extortion, and recruitment perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-NDF. But they never have, and judging by their actions, they never will.

Good luck on that. Asking the Makabayan bloc to denounce the actual atrocities (not conjured EJKs) committed by the CPP-NPA-NDF is like telling a Pinoy not to put ice on his beer. Not going to happen.

Finally, on a serious note, this alliance between the Makabayan bloc and the Ayuda bloc has given the dying insurgency a resuscitation, all for you-know-who’s 2028 presidential ambitions.

“An evil man will burn his own nation to rule over the ashes.”/PN