Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision clearing former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of plunder and ordering her release gained mixed reactions from government officials and other groups.
Many welcomed the decision on the former President, citing her frail health, the insufficiency of proof and the apparent agenda of vindictiveness that marked her detention. The Palace exhorted the people to respect the ruling. Former President Fidel Ramos said the accusations were shallow in the first place.
Some, however, were dismayed—at best, careful. A students’ organization decried the rotten justice system that led to the ruling while the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said an acquittal does not guarantee innocence. Former Palace officials did not quite know what to say—“Sorry, I cannot help you,” according to ex-Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said she was surprised and disappointed and is getting ready to appeal the case.
Arroyo has been detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center since 2012 for alleged misuse of P366 million in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
The court, which voted 11-4 in favor of the former president, dismissed the petition because the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to establish Mrs. Arroyo’s guilt.
For somebody who has been detained four years amid a debilitating physical condition, Arroyo herself was optimistic: “Keep the faith in the justice system,” she said.
That no less than the Supreme Court threw out the case because of lack of evidence is a slap on the face of Arroyo’s successor, former President Benigno Aquino III. Aquino ran and won the presidency by boosting his own stock while belittling others, claiming that only he and his allies could lead the country out of the Dark Ages to which Arroyo plunged us all into.
He squandered six years in power by using his political capital going after his enemies while coddling his errant friends, all the while proclaiming virtue and righteousness.
What comeuppance, then, that Aquino now faces various cases arising from his acts as chief executive, with regard to the Disbursement Acceleration Program and the deaths of police commandos pursuing terrorists in Maguindanao.
It is not surprising to hear Mr. Aquino cry persecution this early, but it is certainly amusing to listen to him prattle on about the supposedly dark motives of the people who have filed the cases.
Aquino is the master of frivolous complaints, given his experience with Arroyo and also with the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was impeached and removed from office in 2012. The various impeachment grounds against Corona were whittled down into the lame and unimpeachable reason of failure to declare all material holdings in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
But perhaps this batch of complainants are more conscientious than Aquino could ever be. They must ensure that the cases, if any must be filed at all, would have ample basis and stand on strong proof. That the charges should crumble from their own weakness would be a disservice to the justice system.
