BY MANUEL MOGATO

A quarter of a century ago, a former president fled from the Philip-pines after a revolu-tion. Last week, an-

other former president was stopped trying to leave in what President Benigno Aquino hopes will be the start of a new revolution.

Aquino, who swept to power last year on a platform of ending poverty by fighting corruption, has his sights on a high-profile target -- his pre-decessor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who faces accusations of election fraud, bribery and kickbacks.

That’s not so unusual in the Phil-ippines. Arroyo herself prosecuted corruption charges against her pre-decessor, Joseph Estrada, who was convicted of plunder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

But Arroyo quickly pardoned and freed Estrada, who had been under house arrest in one of his luxury vil-las for nearly six years while under trial, and he came second behind Aquino in the 2010 election.

But Aquino says there will be no pardons. The case is central to his pledge to end the culture of patron-age and immunity that has allowed corruption to flourish and the elite to perpetuate their power -- and even helped him to office.

“The rules of the game, I think, will change,” Ramon Casiple, ex-ecutive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms, told Reuters.

“There is a big possibility we will see reforms starting in his term but it will not be finished in five years. Many things, however, can be done during this period to weaken pa-tronage system and modernise the democratic system.”

BLOCKED FROM LEAVING Arroyo had been blocked from leav-

ing the country but in a day of drama on Tuesday, the Supreme Court is-

sued a temporary restraining order on the government’s travel ban.

Arroyo, who has not been charged with anything, turned up at the air-port in a wheelchair and her neck in a brace, aiming to fly overseas for medical treatment, but she and her husband were turned back.

The government said it had not received a copy of the court order and the travel ban stood.

That prompted accusations that the government was creating a con-stitutional crisis by defying the Su-preme Court which is due to hold a special session on Friday to hear the government’s motion.

Aquino and the court, dominated by Arroyo appointees, have been at

odds since before he took office. Arroyo controversially appointed

a former chief of staff as chief justice after last year’s presidential election had been held but before she left of-fice. Aquino pointedly took his oath of office from another justice.

Last year, the court ruled against the government in three major cas-es, including plans for a commission to investigate Arroyo.

GOING AFTER THE ELITE?In the Philippines’ recent history,

holding members of the elite ac-countable is very rare.

The late dictator Ferdinand Mar-cos was forced to step down by a “people’s power” uprising and fled

from the country in 1986. His wife, Imelda, has never spent a

day in jail over any of the hundreds of corruption cases she faced. Known for her expansive collection of shoes and jewellery, Marcos is serving a second term in Congress. Her son is a senator and an elder daughter is a provincial governor.

During the 1992-98 presidency of Fidel Ramos two congressmen were jailed -- one for gun smuggling and the other for raping a minor.

But since then no politician, gen-eral, or wealthy businessman has been jailed for corruption, given Estrada’s pardon.

Despite his conviction for plun-der, Estrada remains extremely

popular and his family influential. One of Estrada’s sons is a senator and another sits in Congress. His wife used to be a senator.

Arroyo is a Congresswoman. Her two sons are also members of Con-gress, as is a brother-in-law.

Aquino is also part of the elite. His mother, Cory, was the cham-pion of Philippine democracy who defeated Marcos in the 1986 presi-dential election after her husband, a prominent Marcos opponent, was murdered.

Aquino’s family name was his biggest asset in his election victory last year.

Not all see purely noble inten-tions in Aquino’s actions but rather the playing out of rivalries within the elite. He is a nephew of one of the staunchest allies of Ferdinand Marcos. Arroyo and her husband are both members of landowning families that make up the Philip-pine ruling class.

“I don’t see any change; the same type of things happening before are taking place again,” Benito Lim, po-litical science professor at the At-eneo de Manila University, told Re-uters.

“Aquino is showing that he is try-ing to go after the elites, but these are the elites who are his enemies. He is only showing us how the po-litical elites behave.”

The president has been criticised for the appointment of friends to government jobs, and for being too heavily influenced by his family connections.

While Aquino has made efforts to counter various strongmen and kingpins, he has been cautious be-cause there were groups within his circle who resisted such moves, Ca-siple said.

“Don’t expect him to be an activ-ist,” he said.

“He is not a hero on a white horse, but he is our best bet to introduce reforms in our political system.” -Reuters

EDITORIAL2 NewsCentral NOVEMBER 16-30, 2011

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NewsCentralExecutive Publisher

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Managing EditorRey Garcia

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Aquino: Pursuing corruption or just Arroyo?

We don’t need a mind reader to tell us what’s in the mind of President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino for his predecessor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

BY DINO BALABO

Journalists in Central Lu-zon marked the second an-niversary of the Maguin-danao Massacre with pain, sorrow and rage.

Journalists staged a brief ‘die-in” in front of the San Fernando City Hall, and marched around the San Fernando Cathedral holding streamers.

“Two years had passed and we are still grieving the brutal murder of our fellow journal-ist in Maguindanao,” said Bong Lascson, a veteran journalist and member of the Society of Pam-panga Columnists.

He said that in the Filipino tradition, mourning usually end after one year.

But mourning never end in the case of slain journalists as only about 10 of the 146 cases has been resolved in courts. “Today, we observe the second year of the Maguindanao massa-cre with pain, sorrow and rage,” Lacson said.

He stressed that what makes it more painful is the fact that trials in the murders of journal-

ists are too slow. Despite such situation, Lacson and fellow journalists vowed not to for-get slain journalists and their causes, along with unceasing quest for justice and unwaver-ing fight against the culture of impunity.

“We will not go quietly into the night,” Lacson said and added, “rage, rage, rage against the dy-ing of the light.”

For their part, representatives of the National Union of Journal-ists of the Philippines (NUJP) Bu-lacan and Pampanga chapters, along with Central Luzon Me-dia Association (CLMA), and the Angeles City Radio Club (ACRC) joined the call for justice slain journalists.

Ashley Manabat, chair of the NUJP-Pampanga reminded fel-low journalists to remain stead-fast and never forget their re-sponsibilities as mouth piece of the people.

Manabat also said that press freedom in Pampanga is under threat as journalists suffered harassments and violence.

One of the latest victim was Bernard Galang of Peoples Jour-

nal who was accosted by agents of the National Bureau of Inves-tigation (NBI) last week.

The NUJP-Bulacan also shared a copy of their prepared state-ment entitled, “Tama na Sobra na, Kilos na” calling for President

Benigno Aquino to act and stop impunity in the country.

The NUJP-Bulacan statement reads,” Tama na ang daldal, so-bra na ang pamamaslang sa mga mamamahayag at ang impuni-ty, Pangulong Aquino, kilos na."

CL media remembers Maguindanao massacre

During the past weeks, the entire nation was gripped BY the riveting events sur-

rounding Pampanga’s 2nd Dis-trict Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Initially, it was a question of individual rights to travel and seek medical attention abroad over the rights of the State and of our citizens to pursue accountability and justice. Later, it became an issue be-tween the rights of a former President to be given prefer-ential treatment and the Con-stitutional guarantee of equal application of the law.

The recent events raised a lot

more questions than answers. With all the accusations of cor-ruption and abuse while in pow-er, Mrs. Arroyo, along with her cohorts, should now be made accountable. A lot should be ex-plained to our people as regards the alleged electoral sabotage cases, NBN-ZTE deal, fertilizer fund scam, overpriced Maca-pagal road, OWWA-Philhealth irregularity, etc.

We, the Kapampangan Manalakaran, assert that Mrs. Arroyo should be treated by the Aquino administration, the COMELEC, and the Su-preme Court in the same man-ner like a common offender. Her being a Representative, or

even her being a former Presi-dent, does not put her over and above us ordinary citizens.

To let her get special consid-eration would be tantamount to sending a wrong signal to every Juan/Juana dela Cruz es-pecially the poor. That would be a source of shame partic-ularly to the Kapampangans she represents. We should not tolerate or condone any offense and all acts detrimen-tal to the rights and interests of our people. Otherwise, it would only mean that the rich and the powerful can do any-thing in this country for any-way they can hire the best and the brightest lawyers in the

land to 'defend' them from the law that they were supposed to adhere to and that the poor have no other fate but to lan-guish in jail.

No one is above the law. The law may be harsh but it is still the law. Since she is a former President of the Republic, the more reason that she should be made answerable to the strict-est compliance with the law. The highest office that she held demands the greatest account-ability and responsibility. Be-ing a former executive dictates that she should have set the example in following the law.

It is the turning point for our judges and justices to prove

that there is indeed equal ap-plication and fair treatment between the rich and the poor.

Public office, especially the Presidency, is a position of public trust. The just imple-mentation of the rules and laws to CGMA would set the proper tone and send the stern warning to other public offi-cials of what "daang matuwid" is all about.

Finally, if she is already recu-

perating well as testified by her

medical doctors, then she is fit to

leave the hospital now and pro-

ceed to the detention cell apt to a

law transgressor. Justice and eq-

uity demands that she undergoes

the same judicial processes a com-

mon criminal would endure, that

is, in the service of warrant of ar-

rest, booking and mugshots, and

incarceration while awaiting trial.

To our cabalens, let us not be blinded either by fraternal or even communal link with CGMA. It is our sublime duty to our children, grandchildren and the generations to come that she and her family includ-ing her accomplices should be made liable for everything that they have unlawfully done to our beloved country and province. - KAPAMPANGAN MANALAKARAN, INC.

(For more information, please

get in touch with Atty. Maie Tiglao-

Cayanan at 09065585586)

A call for equal application of the law