Palace photo ops soon over?

If the reading of Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye is accurate, President Arroyo’s penchant for publicly parading arrested crime suspects at Malacañang Palace will soon become a thing of the past.

Bunye based his prediction on the behavior of Mrs. Arroyo on Thursday.

The President had gone to Camp Crame on that day for the presentation to the media of kidnap-for-ransom suspects by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.

Bunye said presidential aides had originally informed him the presentation of the suspects would again be held at Malacañang, but he was later notified that the venue had been transferred to Camp Crame.

"Our President is sensitive to public opinion and she probably realized that it is not fitting to present suspects at Heroes’ Hall," Bun-ye said. Heroes’ Hall is one of the main function rooms at Malacañang.

Critics have censured the President’s practice of hauling detained crime suspects to Malacañang, accusing her of degrading the dignity of the Office of the President. Others have claimed the President’s practice blurred the difference between a police precinct and the Palace.

Bunye admitted however that "it’s not really clear yet" whether the President has decided to discontinue the bringing to Malacañang of the detained crime suspects. "I hope this is indeed a policy."

In a press briefing in Malacañang yesterday, Bunye clarified that the President would not stop her "humiliation for criminals" policy through her presentations of detained crime suspects in full-blown press conferences.

"The President is merely trying to show that she is really serious in her drive and this is evidenced by the bountiful results of her personally keeping a close supervision of these operations. So let the results speak for themselves," he said.

He said the constitutional rights of the detained crime suspects were not violated when they were presented to the public and media even before they could be charged or convicted in courts.

After arriving from Baras, Catanduanes yesterday, the President went from Villamor Air Base in Pasay City to an Antipolo City police precinct where she witnessed the presentation of the solved hold-up-robbery case implicating Tomas Fuller, a suspect who victimized her personal manicurist Anita Valderrama in June.

But there was no presentation to the media of the suspect yesterday, instead the President opted to congratulate Antipolo police sub-station commander Inspector Noel Ragotero for solving the Valderrama case.

Valderrama was robbed of her valuables on June 11 on her way home to Cogeo by a gang led by Fuller, 16. Valderrama had gone to Malacañang to do her work on the President.

Valderrama positively identified Fuller as among the three people who robbed her of her cellphone, $500 and P3,000 cash. They were not recovered.

Fuller was arrested three days ago in Quezon City following a taxi cab heist.

The President commended the Antipolo police sub-station in the presence of Ebdane and Antipolo Mayor Angelito Gatbalayan.

She asked Gatbalayan to reward the sub-station with financial assistance to buy communications equipment and for the building of a new police station.

The President said that she, Rizal Gov. Nini Ynares and Gatbalayan would individually donate P250,000 to build a better-equipped police sub-station. "That is my reward to them," she said.