| Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash
Republic Act 7080, also known as the Plunder Law, was enacted in 1991. This law describes and penalizes the crime of plunder, which involves public officials amassing ill-gotten wealth through overt or criminal acts. Plunder is committed when a public officer, alone or in connivance with others, accumulates ill-gotten wealth amounting to at least 75 million pesos (approximately $1.5 million) through various means such as misappropriation of public funds, receiving kickbacks, or establishing monopolies. Those guilty of plunder face life imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from holding any public office.
This law aims to combat corruption by holding public officials accountable for significant acts of self-enrichment at the public’s expense.
Under the Plunder Law, one President, two senators, and one private co-conspirator have been indicted. A President was found guilty but later pardoned by his successor, the two senators have been acquitted, and the lone person still in prison is a private co-conspirator. In the absence of guilty public officials, both having been acquitted, the final co-conspirator would likely shortly be acquitted as well based on the definition of plunder, which some legal scholars may argue requires elected public officials as co-conspirators, thereby rendering the guilty verdict as moot and academic.
The Plunder Law is also resolutely specific in requiring a cash amount of Php 75M to prosecute a plunder case. Thus, quite clearly, no act of plunder can ever be charged for the amount of Php 74,999,999.99 in corruption. During congressional hearings, it was argued that public officials might be easily framed for plunder if the amount invoked was less than Php 75M. It is almost like saying killing 74,999,999 people is not genocide.
“The current plunder law sets a bar too high. It should also consider a series of acts totaling the prescribed amount. Any time spent in prison should be among the general population of thieves and scammers because that is what plunder is – thievery of the most heinous kind.”
The severity of the act of plunder has been relegated to a misdemeanor. There is a failure to recognize that acts of corruption, even those involving far less than Php75M, are so heinous. Consider the deprivation that the acts of plunder create. Plunder denies social justice and welfare. For every child that dies in the hospital wards for lack of medicine and other lifesaving procedures, plunder plays a role. For every student denied a decent elementary and higher education, plunder plays a role. For a country to be relegated to being a third-world country, plunder plays an outsized role. For every government failing and inadequacy, plunder plays a role.
The plunder law needs amending. The cash threshold will be brought down to Php5,000. The lifetime ban for holding public office should mean the rest of the life of the guilty, and they should never be eligible for executive clemency. A more severe civil forfeiture clause should include not only the loss of pay, salary, and pensions but should also, at minimum, include at least 50% of all assets and wealth of the guilty plus those of their relations, by consanguinity or affinity. Should the death penalty ever be restored in the penal code, the act of plunder should be considered as heinous as any other crime and be punishable by death.
The current plunder law sets a bar too high. It should also consider a series of acts totaling the prescribed amount. Any time spent in prison should be among the general population of thieves and scammers because that is what plunder is – thievery of the most heinous kind.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Crispin Fernandez advocates for overseas Filipinos, public health, transformative political change, and patriotic economics. He is also a community organizer, leader, and freelance writer.
