We're not humiliating GMA - Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang clarified yesterday that it is not trying to humiliate former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when the government moved to put her in jail, saying this was something she has to undergo as an accused in a criminal case.

 “We are not humiliating former President Arroyo. This is the process that she has to undergo now, like every accused who faces certain cases in our system,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte stressed.

Valte maintained that it is not for the executive department to say whether the Pampanga congresswoman should spend time in jail or be accorded either hospital or house arrest, since the decision rests with the judiciary.

“It is not for us to meddle with the decision of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court. It’s up to the Court of Appeals, and eventually with the Supreme Court (to decide what is best for GMA),” she said.

She also clarified that the detention facility being prepared by the Southern Police District and the hospitals “on standby” are only “contingency measures” being undertaken by the government in case the Pasay court does not grant the request of Arroyo for house arrest.

“As to our preference, we would not comment because President Aquino does not want that he be accused of being biased or he is trying to pin down anybody,” Valte explained.

What backlash?

Malacañang likewise brushed aside fears that the country may suffer an international backlash and possibly turn off potential investors, if and when the ex-president is jailed along with ordinary criminals.

“We cannot see why there should be a backlash if we are just fulfilling the promise of the President that we will have accountability for the misdeeds in the past,” Valte said.

On Sunday, Senators Gregorio Honasan and Miriam Defensor-Santiago said the government could send the wrong signal to the global community, particularly foreign investors, if the Aquino administration insists on holding Arroyo in a police detention facility.

Both lawmakers urged Malacañang to place the former president instead under house arrest.

Santiago said subjecting Arroyo to humiliation by keeping her in a police facility would also result in damage to democracy and institutions.

But Senators Panfilo Lacson and Francis Pangilinan disagreed with their colleagues, arguing, among others, that nobody is to be blamed for Arroyo’s predicament other than herself.

“If there’s somebody to be blamed for placing her in a humiliating position it is GMA herself because first, who faked the ballots? Who faked the illness? That’s why she’s in a very humiliating position now. To put the blame on the executive, to put the blame on the court, to put the blame on anybody else, does not jibe with the truth,” Lacson said.

He said Arroyo’s camp should not blame the executive branch because it’s the court that will decide where the former chief executive will be detained.

“The one who will determine whether she will be placed on hospital arrest or detention facility or house arrest is the court, the executive (branch) has nothing to do with it… it seems that the premise of our two colleagues is wrong,” Lacson said at the weekly Kapihan sa Diamond Hotel media forum.

Pangilinan, who was also a guest at the media forum, backed Lacson’s statement.

“What kind of justice system does the Philippines have if it allows a person under investigation to escape and I think it will be a bigger backlash if she escapes and does not come back,” Pangilinan said in Filipino.

“In Taiwan, they detained a former president, there is also an official who committed suicide. In this country (Taiwan) even the high ranking officials are held accountable for their misdeeds, so I don’t see the backlash in terms of how we are handling the case, in terms of how we are making the former president accountable,” he said.

At the House, Citizens Battle Against Corruption Rep. Sherwin Tugna said Honasan and Santiago’s warning was uncalled for and wrongly directed at President Aquino.

“Let the law be, let the court be. The law clearly states that once a person is charged, he or she is to be kept under custody of law enforcement authorities, unless the right to bail is available to her or him. In the case of Arroyo, who is facing electoral sabotage charges, that right is not available,” he said.

Tugna said the decision on where to place Arroyo under arrest lies with Pasay RTC Judge Jesus Mupas and not with the President.

He ridiculed the senators’ warning of a backlash from the international community.

“What international backlash? There is not even a local backlash. On the contrary, there is wide support among Filipinos for the Aquino administration’s quest for justice and accountability,” he said.

“A government pursuing corruption and other charges against a former president should be supported not only by Filipinos but by the international community,” he added.

Militant party-list lawmakers, on the other hand, said moving Arroyo to a government facility “will in no way earn the country the ire of the world.

“On the contrary, the detention of a president charged with a serious, non-bailable offense will be regarded highly by the international community as the fulfillment of justice and equality before the law,” they said. – Helen Flores, Jess Diaz