"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.
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.
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.
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.
