Aquino: We filed strong case

In San Fernando, Pampanga, where he presided at the mass oath-taking of new Liberal Party members, President Benigno Aquino III on Friday said the government has a strong case of plunder against Arroyo.

“We don’t file a case if we don’t have strong evidence. We don’t file a weak case and end up getting embarrassed,” he told reporters.

If prosecutors took time to file and prosecute the cases against his predecessor, it was because they were gathering strong evidence, he said.

In his speech, Mr. Aquino presented a long list of allegedly anomalous transactions and “false claims” of the Arroyo administration.

Chief among these, he said, were the Arroyo administration’s aborted P18.7-billion project to dredge Laguna lake, and the former President’s bridge program, where prefabricated bridges were purchased without proper planning, and its claim that classroom shortage had been solved and every sitio in the country has been electrified.

In contrast, the Aquino administration will be undertaking a proper dredging and drainage system in the capital and in nearby provinces like Pampanga, and disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation measures in the Pampanga Bay, Mr. Aquino said.

“Earlier, I visited the new building of the City College of San Fernando. This project is a concrete proof of the government’s capability to provide service for those in need, that taxpayers’ money will benefit the people,” he said.