Don't Let Jalosjos Go

IT seems that the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is seriously considering pardoning convicted child rapist Romeo Jalosjos after 50 congressmen signed a petition to the president calling for his pardon.

The former representative from Zamboanga del Norte, who is now nearly 65 years old, was convicted in 1997 of raping an 11-year-old girl. According to news reports, this girl has since been adopted by a foreign family and is now attending college in an undisclosed country.

Lawyer Katrina Legarda and a coalition of anticrime groups are vehemently opposed to letting Jalosjos go, with Legarda pointing out in a TV interview that just because he is rich and powerful doesn't mean he should walk free.
The horrible thing in all of this is that President Arroyo is allegedly seriously considering pardoning Jalosjos because of support she needs in Congress to get her tax revenue measures passed. What nonsense!

Now nasty rapists can be freed just because a president needs to have her tax measures passed? What next?

This just proves the point I have made many times before that Arroyo is ready to cut a deal with the devil just to stay in power and get her way.

Secretary of Justice Raul Gonzalez should be ashamed of his scandalous remarks to the press about this case, when he told the Inquirer this week that he thought the 50 representatives would carry more weight with Arroyo than a lone Legarda would.

The Free Legal Assistance Group pointed out that there were "no factual or legal grounds" for the president to consider pardoning Jalosjos, noting that his medical condition could be adequately treated in hospitals. And indeed, Jalosjos with his millions of pesos in wealth has been allowed to be treated in the posh Makati Medical Center, something the less fortunate inmates certainly don't have access to.

And what does the victim think of all this?

According to Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman the girl does not know about the current debate on whether or not Jalosjos should be pardoned.

Interestingly, under Islamic law, the victim upon reaching adulthood would have the right to pardon the convict or not. In this case, I think the victim should be asked to testify before a Filipino judge and say what she thinks his punishment should be.

But as Legarda so rightly pointed out, Jalosjos was lucky to have escaped the death penalty. Instead he's serving two life sentences.

That this has even come up for consideration after Jalosjos spending hardly anytime in jail is obscene.

It just shows how political expediency in the Philippines can get practically anyone off the hook, especially if you're from a politically powerful and rich family.

As Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago pointed out, Jalosjos is "disqualified from charity from the state because rape to
rape such a defenseless and underaged victim is a crime above the normal or the ordinary."

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Why Saudis Should Help Tsunami Victims

THERE has been a growing debate this week over whether or not Saudis and other Gulf Arabs are giving enough money and aid to the tsunami victims of Asia.

The Saudi government initially announced it was donating $10 million to help Asian victims of the tsunami. A few days later, that was tripled to $30 million. Some critics have accused Saudis of being stingy, especially in view of the fact that the country had record breaking oil revenues of $80 billion last year because of high oil prices.

I personally believe that the Saudi government could have given more, but nevertheless I'm sure that private individuals and companies will more than make up for the shortfall.

As I'm writing this, Saudi Television is broadcasting a live 12-hour telethon to raise money for the tsunami victims. Already in just the first 10 minutes of the telethon, SR6 million ($1.6 million) was raised!

The fact remains that almost every single Saudi was directly or indirectly affected by the tsunami due to the fact that the Kingdom has many ties to countries affected by the disaster. There are millions of Saudis of Indian and Indonesian origin, and millions of Indians, Sri Lankans and Indonesians work in this country as managers, nannies, drivers and nurses.

I think that some individual Saudis who wanted to donate money to help the victims have been confused as to which charitable organization to turn to, especially since many local charities have been closed down due to their suspected links to Al-Qaeda.

The telethon should do much to rectify this problem, but I also think that new charities should be established that are strictly overseen by government agencies and are transparent in where all their money goes.

Muslims are not stingy when it comes to helping those in need, no matter what religion they are. Some in the West like to peddle the negative stereotype that Saudis will only help fellow Muslims, but I think this is not true.

Three Saudi girls collected bottled drinking water from private donors and arranged for Saudi Arabian Airlines to fly it in to Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka.

The truth is that people of all religions, be they Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim, are coming together in this time of dire need and suffering and helping those in desperate need of food, water, medical care and comfort. And that's how it should be.

Comments or questions? E-mail the author at rasheed@arabnews.com