Aquino admin wants to imprison all the Arroyos, lawyer says

Ferdinand Topacio INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—After receiving severe criticisms from President Benigno Aquino III in his public speeches, it is time for the camp of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to hit back.

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, spokesman for Arroyo, said that the current administration has a tendency to revive past issues against the family of the former president whenever Aquino faces a political setback.

In an interview with Inquirer Radio 990AM, Topacio also claimed that some people inside Malacañang have been prodding the President to imprison former first gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo and charge him with electoral sabotage.

He added that with the revelations of Ruby Tuason – who was a money courier for Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam – and lawyer Jess Santos, who was a former legal counsel for the first gentleman, Malacañang is now forcing the issue that the Arroyos had a hand in the fraud.

“They want to imprison all of the Arroyos; maybe they don’t have any achievement to speak of that’s why they want to imprison [these] people,” Topacio said.

De Lima conundrum

Topacio added that his camp is dumbfounded by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s remark that “we all know who Jess-Santos is,” saying that the secretary was talking prematurely.

“She’s jumping to conclusions. That’s what I can say about her,” Topacio said.

He added that De Lima has already accused the first gentleman of involvement in the PDAF scam without even providing a copy of Tuason’s affidavit to his camp.

“She accused us as guilty by association without even giving us a copy of the affidavit. What kind of justice secretary is that?” Topacio said. “What she said as a ‘slam dunk’ for me is a blocked shot.”

Topacio said that de Lima’s logic of putting Tuason and Arroyo are relatives was irrelevant, since, according to him, Arroyo and Tuason are not relatives by blood but by marriage.

Senate riddle

With a Senate inquiry regarding the matter this Thursday, Topacio said that De Lima should tell the truth since she is under oath and the facts and statements would be cross examined in the chamber.

Topacio, however, was not wholly confident that the senators would conduct a fair trial.

“I hope the senators would not question along the partisan political lines. What we want here is the truth and not persecution,” Topacio said.

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