THE majority decision of the Supreme Court dismissing the plunder charges against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for transferring P366 million in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office proves that the rule of law still prevails in our country.
It was a difficult journey for the former President, who became the poster child for BS Aquino III’s supposed straight and narrow path.
Recall how Mr. Aquino’s attack dog, former Justice secretary and now Senator Leila de Lima, stopped Mrs. Arroyo in her tracks when the latter was on her way to get medical attention abroad.
That was a clear violation of human rights. It was also an act of vindictiveness and persecution that made Mrs. Arroyo languish under hospital detention for years.
Just what Gloria did to BS Aquino that made him so vindictive against her remains a mystery.
The vindictiveness of BS Aquino became even more pronounced when Mrs. Arroyo’s co-accused were granted bail.
Santa Banana, how could GMA be more guilty than her co-accused when evidence proved she did profit a single centavo from the transfer? In fact, as the Supreme Court had found, approving the transfer was only a ministerial act on her part.
Aquino also went on to condemn Gloria for the many problems that confronted him during his administration, referring to her nine years in office as a lost decade. What baloney.
Records show that it was Aquino’s predecessor who instituted economic reforms that strengthened the country’s economic fundamentals.
Would you believe that even when BS Aquino was already stepping down, he even directed the Sandiganbayan to convict Arroyo? This made GMA lawyers elevate the plunder case to the Supreme Court and seek a demurrer of evidence or dismissal of the case.
Now, we hear dismal groans from Senator De Lima against the Supreme Court decision, and also from Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, another Aquino attack dog. They just can’t take it, can they?
Former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza, Gloria’s lead counsel, put it so well when he said that after Good Friday comes Easter Sunday. And I agree with him.
President Duterte may have said earlier that as a lawyer and former prosecutor, he found the evidence against Mrs. Arroyo very weak. He even wanted to pardon her but Gloria did not want pardon, because then she would have to admit her guilt. She wanted a dismissal of the charges against her.
Santa Banana, would you believe that Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, both Aquino appointees, tried to postpone the decision of the High Court but failed? Another Associate Justice, Benjamin Caguioa, a former classmate of BS Aquino and his appointee, also voted against Gloria. This only means these justices remain loyal to him who appointed them.
Reports say Gloria may get back at her tormentors by filing cases against them. I don’t believe that Gloria is that vengeful.
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It’s sad to think that the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona did not live long enough to see the vindication of former President Arroyo. He, too, was a victim of vindictiveness by the BS Aquino administration.
He was impeached, tried and convicted for an unimpeachable offense. His sin? Not stating in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth all his peso and dollar accounts.
We all know now that BS Aquino III went after Corona by bribing lawmakers. After Corona’s conviction and ouster, BS Aquino packed the Supreme Court with his favorites, even defying tradition by naming a junior associate and bypassing the most senior of them.
Santa Banana, why was BS Aquino so vindictive against Corona? The latter dared to raise the compensation to be given to Hacienda Luisita tenants after Sereno objected to it. It seemed that BS Aquino could not forgive Corona for going against the Cojuangcos in Hacienda Luisita.
My gulay, the Bureau of Internal Revenue even filed tax evasion cases against Corona. The former chief justice was said to have died of a heart attack. It could well be a broken heart.
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The new Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo wants the Philippines to host the next Miss Universe contest. And Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach even had an audience with President Duterte to push for it.
But are we ready for such a world event when there are flight cancellations and delays just because of a small crack at the main runway at Naia, diverting flights to Mactan and Clark? My gulay, the airport congestion is bad enough. We don’t need this additional trouble.
Then there’s the problem of traffic gridlocks and nightmarish traffic along Edsa, not to mention ongoing buildings of overseas and flyovers that screws up traffic flow to more than hours.
What about all the squatter colonies that foreign tourists and visitor see along the way? Will they again be hidden from the visitors as before?
How about the street children and homeless people living along avenues and highways? Will they be rounded up again by the Department of Social Welfare and Development?
Is the Duterte administration ready to show the world that we are still a Third World country?
