The entire nation was riveted to television screens and breaking news last week as the fast-paced drama starring former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo unfolded before our eyes.
Not a few of the people I spoke with, mostly lawyers, believed that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima had good reason to prevent the former President from leaving the country to make her accountable for the crimes she allegedly committed during her nine-year term. After all, it was not unlikely that the Arroyos would stay out of the country until the end of President Benigno Aquino III’s term when it would be safe for them to return. They have, no doubt, more than enough means and resources to live comfortably elsewhere. Moreover, the chosen countries of destination by the former President happened to have no extradition treaties with the Philippines. Yet, many thought that the Justice Secretary’s good reasons and hunches were not enough. Why did she not ensure that a case was filed in court so that a valid hold-departure order could be issued? A case for plunder against Arroyo was filed by Akbayan party list with the Department of Justice more than a year ago. To date, though, it has not reached the courts. Many agreed that there had to be cases filed in court to legitimately stop the former President from exercising her constitutional right to travel. In other words, from the legal standpoint, the temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court, effectively allowing the Arroyos to leave had to be respected. And since a temporary restraining order is provisional in character, it is immediately executory provided the conditions set by the court for its grant are complied with, if there are any.
It did not help the cause of the Justice Secretary that the former President arrived at the airport in an ambulance; carried on a wheelchair, with medical contraptions on her neck and forehead; looking pitiful and stressed. This was not the look of the President Arroyo the people always knew—strong, dressed to the nines, even haughty. No doubt, her appearance at the airport—sans makeup and donning a housedress—aroused sympathy for the former President. But what many marveled at was how quickly she had booked flights in at least five airlines to leave on Tuesday last week even before the Supreme Court had officially released and served to all concerned its temporary restraining order.
And as quickly as Mrs. Arroyo had made arrangements for her travel, a warrant for her arrest came just as speedily on Friday, a few hours after the Supreme Court re-affirmed its order granting the temporary restraining order allowing the Arroyos to travel. While the Philippine judicial system has always been taunted by the public to grind slowly, this time, speed was the name of the game. What ended the fast-paced drama was the serving of the warrant of arrest on the former President in her hospital room at the St. Luke’s Medical Center. Now, she can not attempt to leave and must face the charges filed against her.
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One cannot help feeling sorry for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She is the daughter of a former Philippine president who left a good name and who rose from rags to political power and a life of sufficient comfort. She had lived as a teenager in Malacañang and seemed destined to recapture it as her home. As Vice President to then President Joseph Estrada, she was suddenly catapulted to the presidency by a people power revolt unseating Estrada. Although she promised not to run for president in 2004, she did, and won. Her election as president was, however, hounded with allegations of electoral fraud, with the “Hello Garci” wiretapped conversation between her and Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano taking the center stage of protests against Arroyo. She ignored the protests and calls for her resignation; she survived two military coups by junior officers riling against corruption in the top level of government. She survived the upheaval in her government when ten of her most trusted cabinet members resigned and called for her resignation. She was once quoted as saying to an international media that God put her in the presidency. Another round of street protests demanded her resignation when the ZTE broadband bribery scandal broke out. But, yet again, she survived this. Virtually nothing could bring her down. Arroyo then went on to finish her six-year term, on top of the three and a half years remaining from the term of Estrada. Her presidency culminated in her earning the label of being the most unpopular president the country ever had, after the dictatorship of Ferdinand E. Marcos. Through all this, she seemed unfazed and continued to exercise power to the very end: appointing persons to various positions in violation of the appointments ban mandated by the constitution.
When she took her oath as president after the ouster of Estrada, she vowed to be a good president. And she did enjoy good ratings in the beginning of her presidency. What happened then on leading to her fall from grace is a good case study for students of political science and human behavior. And now she faces prosecution for such grave and heinous offenses as electoral sabotage, plunder and violation of human rights.
Although Filipinos are a known to be a forgiving lot, with short memories, at that, the general reaction to the arrest of Arroyo was a sigh of relief. People had ambivalent and mixed feelings when she was at the airport attempting to depart. Some felt pity at how she looked yet felt that she should be made to face prosecution for her alleged crimes just as Estrada had to.
The saga of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has sent the message that it does not pay to abuse power. When one is handed power by the people to serve the general good, one cannot go on to betray the public trust. No debt is left unpaid. One accounts for it either now or in the after life.
E-mail: ritalindaj@gmail.com Visit: www.jimenolaw.com.ph
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