Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Arrested for Election Sabotage

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) was served with an arrest warrant following the filing of an election sabotage case by the Commission on Election today, 18 November 2011.The case was filed in the Pasay Regional Trial Court. Since exPGMA  was still in St Lukes Medical Center in Taguig City, the warrant was served by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in that hospital. The booking (fingerprinting and photographing) shall be prepared tomorrow since the NBI believed the once powerful lady of the Philippines was still not capable of doing that.

In another development, the Motion for Reconsideration filed by the Solicitor General to the Supreme Court (SC) against the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued by SC on the Watch List Order (WLO) by the Department of Justice (DOJ) headed by Secretary Leila De Lima, was denied with a vote of 6-7. The SC also admitted that the conditions set for the TRO was not substantially fulfilled with regard to the appointment of Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio since additional declarations have yet to be authorized. Nonetheless, the TRO can be implemented. However, one dissenting justice said that the TRO shall be suspended pending compliance.  In addtion, the SC also ordered Secretary De Lima to present her case against not implementing the TRO issued.

As in the case of the powerful personalities served with arrest warrant in the Philippines, PGMA is no exception. She will be under hospital arrest until her doctors declared that she is physically capable to stay in the detention center of the Southern Police District. I think it will take time before this happens. And if it does, I'm sure she will be detained in an air-conditioned room villa like that of former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Well, that's justice for John Dela Croix!

HELLO, ExPGMA? WE ARE SORRY!

"Please release me, let me go!" - Ex President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

The Filipino people feel sorry for the former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (PGMA) when she and her family were not allowed to leave the country on 15 November 2011. This was after the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Watch List Order issued by the Department of Justice headed by Secretary Leila De Lima.

"I'm sorry but you cannot go right now, ExPGMA!" - Leila De Lima

The 3 conditions imposed by the SC, whose members are mostly appointed by PGMA, to be satisfied by the Arroyos so that they can leave the country are:

1 - Appoint a legal representative to receive legal documents & notices while the Arroyos are overseas

2 - A bond of 2 million pesos in cash

3 - Notify the Philippine Embassy of their whereabouts in their country of destinations

The first condition was met by appointing Ferdinand Topacio as the legal representative of the Arroyos. The P2M in cash was readily met. The last condition will only be fulfilled once the Arroyos leave the country.

In spite of the TRO, Sec. De Lima still  instructed the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Aviation to bar ex-President Gloria Arroyo, her husband Mike Arroyo, his son Mikey and wife, pending the resolution of the Motion for Reconsideration filed by the Office of the Solicitor General. Sec. De Lima wants the SC to give its ruling on the Motion before the implementation of the TRO with the impression that the Arroyos will not come back to the Philippines.

 "You can castrate one of my balls if the Arroyos did not come back." - Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, in an attempt to validate the Arroyo's vow to return to the Philippines after the treatment, offered his one ball to be castrated if the Arroyos broke their promise. Likewise, exPGMA's spokeswoman, Maria Elena Bautista-Horn, former head of one of the most corrupt agencies in the Philippines - the Land Transportation Franchise Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) administrator, offered herself to jail sentence in case Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (RGMA) did not return.

"If the promise is not fulfill, you can put me to jail." - Maria Elena Bautista-Horn

My thoughts to this fiasco:

1 - Let the Supreme Court rule on the Motion for Reconsideration filed by the Solicitor General. Although the TRO issued can already be imposed, what will happen if they (SC) reversed its ruling and the Arroyos were already overseas?

2 - Freeze the assets of the Arroyos and do not let them return to the Philippines. Living in exile can be the worst of punishment.

3 - Karma is on its way. The Arroyos are afflicted with many illnesses. God knows best.