FORMER President Benigno Aquino III snubbed the woman he had thrown in jail for four years, former President Gloria Arroyo, when they both went to the Palace for a meeting of the National Security Council convened by President Rodrigo Duterte.
A 34-second clip provided by state-owned PTV4 showed Duterte shaking hands with former President Fidel V. Ramos, who has agreed to serve as the country’s special envoy to China, and Arroyo shaking hands with Ramos.
In the next segment, former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and Aquino entered the reception hall.
Aquino was first to extend his hand to Duterte and Ramos, but skipped Arroyo, whom he had consistently blamed for the country’s problems during his six years in office.
The video showed Estrada shaking hands with Duterte, then Ramos. He also shook hands with Arroyo before the video ran out.
A source said the meeting of the five presidents started exactly at 3 p.m., and confirmed that Aquino “never made any effort to acknowledge Arroyo.”
Aquino pursued plunder charges against Arroyo in 2012 and put her under hospital arrest for four years.
Earlier this month, however, the Supreme Court acquitted Arroyo and ordered her released from detention, saying the state had failed to show adequate evidence of her wrongdoing.
The 69-year-old Arroyo, who is currently Pampanga representative, is the second president to be detained for plunder charges.
In April 2001, ousted President Estrada was jailed for plunder over charges because of unexplained wealth. The Sandiganbayan convicted and sentenced him to life in jail in September 2007. But only six weeks after, in October 2007, Arroyo pardoned him.
The Supreme Court last week approved Arroyo’s petition to acquit her of the P366-million plunder suit filed by the Ombudsman in July 2012 against her and nine other former government officials.
The Ombudsman claimed that Arroyo approved the alleged diversion of intelligence funds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for purposes not related to the core work of the agency, which is to help indigents and sectors working with them.
