Bishop decries Aquino gov’t treatment of Arroyo

MANILA, Philippines—A Roman Catholic bishop known to be a supporter of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lamented on Saturday the Aquino administration’s treatment of her.

“She’s already kneeling down and Aquino’s people are still kicking her. Sobra naman (It’s too much,” Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of Butuan City told reporters in a phone-patch interview. He then hung up and refused to answer any more calls or text messages.

However, another Catholic clergy group, the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines, said it was relieved that the Commission on Elections filed on Friday the electoral sabotage case against Arroyo which led to the Pasay City Regional Trial Court issuing a warrant for her arrest.

“I think it defused a possible confrontation at the airport should Arroyo and her husband try to leave the country again. I hope it will begin a process towards justice. That judge should be commended for his important role in history,” AMRSP co-chair Sr. Mary John Mananzanan said in a separate interview with reporters.

Asked about claims by Arroyo camp that the electoral sabotage case against the former President was railroaded, she replied: “I don’t now if the word ‘railroad’ is appropriate. The government just did what they had to do to prevent Ms Arroyo from escaping her responsibility and the consequences of her actions” while she was President.

Meanwhile, Election Commissioner Rene Sarmiento  said the Comelec will leave the settlement of the case up to the judiciary.

“Now that it’s already with the RTC, we trust the judiciary will do its part, impartially and independently, according to the Constitution. Our former President has a presumption of innocence. She [now] has the forum to say if what’s in the charge sheet is not true,” he said.

Sarmiento, one of the two appointees of Arroyo at Comelec who voted in favor of a resolution calling for the filing of an election sabotage charge against her, said he wished the former President the “best of health.”

Commenting on allegations by the Arroyo camp that her right  to ravel and seek medical help had been violated and the case railroaded, he said: “We are a republic; there are many considerations that we look into, not just the one person. I think the interest of justice is higher. If she did not really do it and has evidence to disprove what we said in the resolution, I think the normal way is to appeal it in court and prove her innocence.”

Sarmiento said the Comelec’s work was not yet finished. The poll body, particularly its law department, will be in charge of prosecuting the case against Arroyo, former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and former Maguindanao provincial election officer Lintang Bedol. Sarmiento said the timeframe for the resolution of the case would depend on the court and may even take a year or more, after which it can still be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

The poll body is expected to file electoral sabotage cases against former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. and several others for irregularities that took place in North and South Cotabato provinces during the 2007 elections.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, whose members demonstrated at the Supreme Court Friday to protest the temporary restraining order against the government’s travel ban on the Arroyos, said the former president should be hauled off to jail as soon as possible.

“If she’s well enough to go to the airport and Singapore, she’s well enough to go to the nearest police station. No special treatment. The Philippine National Police [officials] are not doctors who can evaluate her medical condition. It is up to the courts to decide on the hospital arrest, not the PNP,” Reyes said.

Photos of the “luxurious” accommodations in Arroyo’s “presidential suite at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City began circulating on social networking sites, with many users commenting that she should be sent straight to jail and not given VIP treatment.