Not all Pampanga residents sympathize with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—A group advocating good governance and responsible citizenship in Pampanga urged authorities on Wednesday to ensure that former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is facing an electoral sabotage case, should not be accorded special treatment.

The Kapampangan Manalakaran Inc. also urged their province-mates to rise above ethnocentric ties after observing that a number of Pampanga residents sympathize with Arroyo on the basis of her being a daughter of a Kapampangan, the late President Diosdado Macapagal.

Arroyo is a representative of Pampanga’s second district.

Lawyer Ma. Amelia Tiglao-Cayanan, KMI spokesperson, said Arroyo should be treated by the Aquino administration, the Commission on Elections and the Supreme Court “in the same manner [as they would treat] a common offender.”

KMI convenors include Fr. Eddie Panlilio, a former Pampanga governor. Its leaders and members are businessmen, lawyers, professionals, youth, farmers, workers and elected officials.

“Her being a representative, or even her being a former president, does not put her over and above us, ordinary citizens,” Cayanan said in a statement.

Cayanan said giving Arroyo special consideration would be tantamount to sending a wrong signal to people, especially the poor.

“[Kapampangans should not] tolerate or condone any offense and all acts detrimental to the rights and interests of our people. Otherwise, it would only mean that the rich and the powerful can do anything in this country for … they can hire the best and the brightest lawyers in the land to defend them from the law that they were supposed to adhere to,” she said.

Arroyo’s position as a former president is “more reason that she should be made answerable to the strictest compliance with the law,” Cayanan said.

“Justice and equity demand that she undergoes the same judicial processes a common criminal would endure, that is, in the service of warrant of arrest, booking and mug shots, and incarceration while awaiting trial,” Cayanan said.