Why "Senator" Trillanes should remain in jail

Columnist Ramon Farolan of the Inquirer.net laments in his latest piece the "harshness" of the no-bail imprisonment of his hero Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV. Farolan begins his piece with two irrelevent factoids: (1) that "Sonny" spent his 39th birthday in prison, and (2) that his "last seven years have been spent in prison on charges that the average citizen would find difficult to understand and appreciate". Buried in this emo article is what seems to be the only relevant fact about Trillanes's case that Farolan himself cannot escape (and, as such, needed to be stated)...

[...] Trillanes is facing charges of a non-bailable nature.

Unfortunately, Farolan, rather than quitting while he was ahead, follows through with a rather quaint eh bakit sila? ("what about these other examples") appeal, citing two other perpetrators of non-bailable offenses who were given the softly-softly treatment in the past:

(1) Surigao del Norte Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr who is imprisoned on charges of parricide "allowed to participate at rock concerts and attend congressional sessions" on "humanitarian" grounds; and,

(2) Nur Misuari who after leading "two of the bloodiest revolts against the government in 1974 and 2001", was "allowed to post bail for his conditional release, and later placed under house arrest".

Why not let's add the ridiculous mitten-fisted punishment meted by then Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos on the participants of the first coup attempt against then President Cory Aquino in 1986 for good measure, Mr Farolan...

The first rebellion occurred in July 1986, only five months after the president took office. Several hundred Marcos supporters backed Arturo Tolentino, who had been Marcos's vice presidential running mate in the February election, in a takeover of the elegant Manila Hotel. Following calls for Marcos's return to the presidency, the mutineers surrendered and were punished with fifty push-ups.

What I say to "Sonny"-boy (whose boyness, by the way, is fast wasting away behind bars) is quite simple: Tough luck.

None of the above changes the simple fact of the crime against the Republic that you are accused of being non-bailable. That others got away with murder is not the issue and is irrelevant (charge those lapses in judgment to the renowned limp-dickedness of Pinoys in general).

The only thing relevant here is the nature of the crime that you are accused of.

[Image courtesy Caffeine Sparks]