Opposition to GMA: Keep your cool

The opposition in the House of Representatives urged President Arroyo yesterday to keep her cool and not to panic in the wake of the latest jueteng controversy hounding her family.

Minority Leader Francis Escudero told reporters that judging by her statements in San Carlos City on Monday when the Senate opened its jueteng inquiry, "she’s rattled and she’s panicking."

"Kung hindi totoo ang paratang sa pamilya niya, ano ang problema (If the accusations against her family are not true, what is the problem)?" he asked.

He said the President should not have cleared her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, her son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, and her brother-in-law, Negros Occidental Rep. Jose Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, of charges that they were receiving jueteng money or protecting operators of the illegal numbers game.

"She should let the investigation she herself has ordered the Department of Justice to conduct take its normal course. It is only after a formal inquiry that the accused can be cleared or indicted," he said.

Escudero noted that in San Carlos City, Mrs. Arroyo even resurrected her "insecurity" about her victory in the May 2004 election.

"No one has raised that since the Supreme Court threw out FPJ’s and Susan Roces’ election protest. Why rake it up now? The issue is not about the presidential election; it’s about jueteng. It just shows you that this latest scandal has rattled her," he said.

The opposition leader, who acted as Poe’s spokesman during the election campaign, reiterated his appeal for the President not to blame the opposition for the newest jueteng scandal.

"Bishop (Oscar) Cruz is not part of the political opposition. Wilfredo Mayor is a witness of the good bishop, not of the opposition," he said.

Another congressman, Teodoro Casiño of the party-list group Bayan Muna, said an "impartial probe, not Mrs. Arroyo, should clear her husband, her son and brother-in-law."

"Mrs. Arroyo should be the last person to speak about the alleged innocence of her family members. Her statements are self-serving and may even be aimed at influencing the outcomes of ongoing and future investigations on the matter," he said.