Arroyo’s allies: Now she can defend herself
ANGELES CITY, Philippines—Though sad that former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appeared to have lost the chance to seek medical attention abroad, her political allies in her home province of Pampanga are glad that she now has the opportunity to defend herself in court.
“We are sad that GMA (Arroyo) no longer has the chance to get well because she was barred from leaving [the country]. But we are also glad that after one-and-a-half years, she can now defend herself in court,” said Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo on Saturday.
Pelayo, president of the Pampanga Mayors’ League, said he and other political allies of Arroyo, now Pampanga’s second district representative in Congress, are hopeful that history would prove her critics and accusers wrong.
“The [Aquino administration] also showed that what it could not do in one-and-a-half years, it can do in only an hour—that is to file a case against GMA, just to make her stay in the country and prevent her from traveling abroad,” he said.
With the case now in court, he said, the issue “will no longer be mere trial by publicity.”
Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, a former Cabinet member of Arroyo, said the Aquino administration’s action against the former President have been aggravating her condition.
“President Aquino and [Interior] Secretary [Jesse] Robredo had said that being a former president, she (Arroyo) should be shown some respect. But are they doing that? Instead of letting her get medical attention… they are aggravating her physical condition,” Pamintuan said in a text message.
Pamintuan said it was both surprising and saddening for many Kapampangans to witness how Arroyo was treated.
“From an issue of health to right to travel, the issue has transformed into a larger one – one that now challenges our constitutional, [judicial] and legal processes and institutions. The issue has gone beyond the former President,” he said.
In Bulacan, former San Jose del Monte City Representative Angelito Sarmiento said the conflict between the executive and judicial branches of government over the cases involving Arroyo and her arrest had set a bad example of how democracy works.
“The manner by which the arrest warrant was served has set a bad example, especially if we look at it within the context of the proper implementation of the law,” he said in Filipino.
Sarmiento, also a former presidential adviser on agriculture modernization, said justice means upholding the right of an accused to be presumed innocent and not being treated like a convicted criminal.
