'Gloria should be convicted on poll fraud case'

MANILA, Philippines - The partylist Sanlakas  on Thursday called on the Pasay Regional Trial Court to convict former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the electoral sabotage case filed against her by Commission on Elections  (Comelec) two years ago.

“The best way to clean elections is to convict and punish election saboteurs. Failing to do so would encourage unscrupulous politicians to keep on cheating,” said Sanlakas national spokesperson James Miraflor in a statement.

Sanlakas also called on the prosecution to take its case against Arroyo seriously to send a strong message against “electoral corruption”.

“We support the Comelec in its fight for electoral justice. It is not enough that we keep the institution of elections clean. We have to create a public lesson out of those besmirched it in the past. Ano sila, sinuswerte?” Miraflor said.

Sanlakas also urged voters to junk Arroyo family  members who are running for several positions in Congress.

“It seems to us that the Arroyo family is establishing a legacy of ‘fakes’. After a fake President, it has produced a fake security guard and a fake Bicolano,” Miraflor said.

Miraflor said Mikey Arroyo’s Ang Galing Pinoy partylist, which claims to represent security guards, tricycle drivers, farmers and small businessmen, has recently been disqualified by Comelec because its nominees did not come from marginalized sectors.

Sanlakas added that Dato Arroyo is also not from Bicol having only transferred from Ateneo de Manila University to Ateneo de Naga during his college years.

“Dato Arroyo is actually born in Manila. His mother is from Pampanga while his Father is from Iloilo. How more non-Bicolano can you get? It just goes to show the lengths the Arroyo family will go to entrench themselves. That Dato did it when her mother is in power, when they should be making an example of exercising restraint, is really something else,” Miraflor said.

“(Arroyo's) entire career has been an exercise in the art of political manipulation. From when she maneuvered herself to hijack People Power II, hers is a long list of sophisticated crimes against democracy and decency. The people of Pampanga should not let themselves be used,” Miraflor added.  - Mike Frialde