GMA surprised over link to Sabah conflict

MANILA, Philippines - Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was stunned when she learned that her administration was being linked to the Sabah conflict, which has claimed the lives of 27 Filipinos and Malaysians. 

“She was shocked,” former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo told reporters yesterday when asked for a reaction to President Aquino’s statement that individuals identified with the past administration may be part of a conspiracy to stir up trouble in Sabah. 

“What is this? Gloria might be implicated in the killing of Rizal, too,” Arroyo said.

Aquino earlier said that the government believes there is a conspiracy behind the situation and vowed not to let those involved succeed.

“We are aware that there are those who conspired to bring us to this situation – a situation that has no immediate solutions,” he said.

He did not name names.

“Some of their identities are clear to us, while others continue to skulk in the shadows. The family of Sultan Jamalul Kiram could not possibly have settled on this course of action alone,” Aquino said. 

Opposition up in arms

House minority leader Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said Malacañang was insulting the intelligence of the public in raising the possibility that Arroyo has been directing the uprising in Sabah while under detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City.

“Former President Arroyo plotting from the VMMC where mobile phones are not allowed?” Suarez said. “Maybe she’s using pigeons with messages tied to their legs to communicate.”

He said even former national security adviser Norberto Gonzales did not deny visiting Kiram, who had many visitors in the past several weeks.

Romualdez said Malacañang officials should remain silent on the alleged plot until all evidence against the plotters is gathered.

“It insults the intelligence of everyone that whenever there’s a problem, they would blame the previous administration,” he said.

“It turns public opinion against people who don’t even know what’s happening,” he said. “This does a great disservice to the public because, in a sense, they use the media wittingly or unwittingly.”

Romualdez said the allegation against Arroyo was raised in a news conference that would surely be reported by journalists even if no names were mentioned, thus generating speculations.

“Let’s not distract everyone. The fact is that dozens are now dead. That’s a fact, not speculation,” he said. – With Paolo Romero