Babe's Eye View article

SAN FRANCISCO, California—Now it can be told: the Federal Bureau of Investigation had a secret file on Michael Jackson who, throughout his life, was hounded by child molestation allegations. Hundreds of pages of documents covering 1992 to 2005 were released through the Freedom of Information Act requested by media groups after the death of Jackson in June this year. Yet strangely enough, there was not a single scrap of solid evidence to show that the popular singer was a pedophile—a damning allegation that Jackson fans blame for the decline in the pop icon’s professional and private life.

It can be recalled that in 1993, Jackson was accused of sexually molesting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler (reportedly upon the instigation of the boy’s father Evan Chandler). It was such a high-profile case with cops raiding Jackson’s Neverland Ranch and taking rolls of film, videos and photographs which they hoped would pin down the singer. Jackson of course claimed innocence all throughout the ordeal, insisting it was nothing but pure and simple extortion by the boy’s father. Recorded conversations of the older Chandler seemed to indicate an obsession to destroy the singer if he did not agree to a payoff. Jackson eventually agreed to settle out of court for more than $20 million.

In what seemed like a bizarre turn of events, the boy’s father was found dead last month from a single bullet fired to his head in an apparent case of suicide. Those who know Evan say he had become reclusive, afraid to go out and be recognized by Jackson fans—many of whom sent hate mails and death threats to the boy and his father.

Although authorities said Chandler’s suicide had nothing to do with Jackson’s death last June, a lot of people believe that guilt and despair probably drove the 65-year-old former dentist to kill himself. After all, the Jackson case destroyed his family and in 2006, Jordan filed a restraining order against his father who allegedly attacked him with a dumbbell and squirted pepper spray in his eyes.

But perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the whole Michael Jackson saga is the suspicion that the FBI and police authorities went to great lengths to try and nail the “King of Pop.” In fact, California police authorities tracked down Filipino couple Mark and Faye Quindoy to Manila in September 1993. The Quindoys, former housekeepers of Jackson’s Neverland estate, claimed they saw children being abused by the singer and promised to testify against the latter.

Ironically, during their appearance on a TV show called “Now it can be told” early in 1993, the couple proclaimed Jackson “a very nice man”—but behind the scenes, they said their former employer fondled young boys, but they wanted to be paid $25,000 to tell this story.

After talking with LA police, the Filipino couple went public again, and in a couple of press cons said they were suing Jackson for back wages. Mark also had a diary supposedly containing sordid tales of Jackson’s abuses — and their accounts coincided with the allegations by former Jackson cooks Philippe and Stella Lemarque. In the end, these people’s credibility was tainted by suspicions that they were just after the singer’s money, especially the Filipino couple who even contemplated a book out of the case.

In 2004, new accusations of abuse surfaced once again. The declassified documents showed the Sta. Barbara District Attorney’s office asking the FBI for help in “developing a strategy” to prosecute Jackson for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor. Despite an exhaustive review of notes and numerous computer files, nothing established Jackson’s guilt, who was eventually acquitted of charges. Lawyers of the late pop icon assert the FBI files should finally convince everyone that their client was “not a criminal and not a pedophile. The fact that so many agencies investigated him and couldn’t find anything proves he was completely innocent.”

To many, especially Jackson loyalists, “strategy development” is nothing but legal speak for attempts to plant or manufacture evidence against anybody whom authorities have taken a “special interest” in. Lucky for Jackson, nothing was able to stick probably because he chose to live like a recluse in his home, making it difficult for anybody to break in and plant evidence.

Unfortunately in the Philippines, there are a lot of horror stories about cops planting evidence on suspected criminals. In 2005, three young men including Francis Manzano were peppered with bullets by policemen in casual clothes who claimed the three were members of a carnap gang. Witnesses, plus a TV footage showed policemen planting stolen firearms and license plates in the victims’ car. Forensic evidence also ruled out a shootout since all the shattered glass were inside the car.

It can be recalled that PDEA chief Dionisio Santiago also created an uproar when he admitted that in “some special cases,” his agents are “forced” to plant evidence on “well-known drug traffickers under PDEA’s watch list” who always elude arrest. This is a dangerous mindset because it could result in lousy police work and could encourage authorities to take illegal “shortcuts.”

Worse, the practice of planting evidence could be used by corrupt cops to blackmail innocent civilians especially young men from affluent families. Even PNP chief Gen. Jake Verzosa had admitted that corrupt cops resort to “hulidap” by planting evidence on individuals and threatening them with arrest unless they pony up a huge amount.

Human rights groups should be particularly vigilant of such abuses. Better yet, perhaps there should be a super body to watch over these kotong cops and monitor the progress of cases against them to make sure they reap the fruits of their planted evidence against innocent individuals.