The arrest of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sends a strong message that officials accused of corruption must face the music, according to four of Cebu’s leading legal minds.
“It is part of the accountability of public officials. If you are a public servant, you should always be faithful to public trust and responsible for what you do,” said Associate Justice Gabriel Ingles of the Court of Appeals.
Ingles said Arroyo’s arrest proves that the present government is serious in its campaign against corruption.
“What the nation needs are serious efforts in the administration of justice. Those who are influential usually escaped criminal prosecution. (But) justice should be administered equally to the powerless and the powerful,” he said.
Last Friday, charges of electoral sabotage were filed against Arroyo before the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 112.
An arrest warrant was served in her hospital room on the same day. No bail was recommended.
Cebu Regional Trial Court Judge Meinrado Paredes said Arroyo has the chance to secure temporary liberty pending resolution of the charges against her.
The charge is non-bailable if evidence of guilt is strong.
Under the 1987 Constitution, “an accused has the right to bail unless he or she is charged with a capital offense where evidence of guilt is strong.”
Paredes said the prosecution should prove that it has a strong case against Arroyo; otherwise, the former president may be released from custody while the main trial proceeds.
He said all Arroyo can do now is to face the charges against her.
“There is nothing she can do but to interpose her defenses,” said Paredes, former executive judge of the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City.
Paredes said Arroyo’s arrest should give all leaders a chance to contemplate on what’s ahead.
“Whether you are a head of state or a president, once you commit a heinous crime against the people, you have to be answer for it. There is really karma. I believe Arroyo is confronted with that,” Paredes said.
“One should answer for whatever wrongdoing he or she has committed before. This is a lesson for future leaders: When one is powerful, he or she is unstoppable. But when one is no longer in power, it’s the other way around,” he said.
Lawyer Earl Bonachita, president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City chapter, said a “hospital arrest” for Arroyo is considered on humanitarian grounds because of her medical condition.
But Bonachita said policemen have to be posted in St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City.
Bonachita described as “out of the ordinary” the immediate issuance of the arrest warrant within the same day the case was filed in court.
But he said Judge Jesus Mupas of the Pasay City RTC is presumed to have performed his duties in a manner that was aboveboard.
Democrito Barcenas, a human rights lawyer who opposed the Marcos regime in the 1980s, said Arroyo’s arrest was “a day of reckoning” for her.
“If you are in power, never abuse your office. Never steal, rob or cheat,” said Barcenas, who is currently a director of the Philippine National Oil Company-Shipping and Transport Corp. (PNOC-STC).