Indeed, as Inquirer.net columnist Randy David opined in his 19th November 2011 article, perhaps during her time, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo “deftly manipulated the legal system” to suit her agenda. He was, of course, referring to the “midnight appointment” of key justices in the Philippines’ Supreme Court who are supposedly loyal to her and, as David and other Aquinoists imply, now exercise this loyalty in the dispensation of their duties in the high court.
But see, deftly is the key word here. Arroyo did things deftly. Perhaps her agendas and her means were not as, shall we say, “ethical” as some crybabies would like things to be. But then what politician is truly ethical to begin with?
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The alleged questionable loyalties of the Supreme Court justices forms the cornerstone of the argument of those who gnash their teeth and stomp their feet in indignation over the behaviour of the Supreme Court and justify the rightness of defying the orders it issues. While the alleged loyalties of SC justices are speculative at best, the gross irresponsibility that Justice Secretary Leila De Lima exhibited when she baldly defied a Supreme Court Order to suspend a travel ban on Arroyo who requested that she be allowed to seek medical treatment abroad is very real in comparison. Unfortunately for these crybabies, personal and individual loyalties lie beyond the reach of the Law and due processes designed to evaluate information surrounding the cases these are applied to. The dispensation of court orders in a manner consistent with the Law can only be debated within the legal framework.
Arroyo, perhaps because she is an eloquent statesman and a shrewd politician who happened to be at the right place at the right time most times, was deft in the way she worked within the legal framework. And even outside of it. In her ascent to power under the second “people power” “revolution” she secured the blessings not just of the millions of hollowheads who trooped into the streets of EDSA in 2001 to support the ouster of then President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, but also that of the country’s top king-makers — the lieutenants of the country’s Roman Catholic Church and the generals of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Sweetest of all for her, she was sworn in by then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Hilario Davide, Jr.
The eminent Randy David makes being deft sound like a bad thing. Filipinos who find themselves in the losing end of a circumstance have a word to describe people who put them there deftly: garapal (loosely translated: “without scruples”). And that, it seems, is the only crime Arroyo could be charged with — being garapal: in the way “she caused the humiliating arrest and detention of [Erap Estrada,] the duly-elected president she had just deposed” , in the way she allegedly “named the palace gardener and her personal manicurist to government boards just before she stepped down from office in mindless disregard of their qualifications”, and lest we miss this one, the way she “insisted on exercising the prerogative to name the new chief justice of the Supreme Court in the last weeks of her presidency, when, out of civility or courtesy, she should have left this choice to her successor who had already been elected”.
If no one had noticed yet, none of the three heinous “crimes” David lists above involves a violation of any law. They were all, perhaps, acts that involved spectacular displays of lack of civility and courtesy, and therefor that makes Arroyo, by definition, garapal.
So sue her for being garapal then honourable attorneys.
Apparently nabbing her for something that can be prosecuted in a court of law seems to be beyond the reach of the evidently limited intellect of the best legal minds employed by those who seek to crush her. Despite the viral spread of what is supposed to be a long list of crimes Arroyo can be charged for, the only case filed against her at the eleventh hour of an embarrassingly bungled scramble to keep her within the borders of this sad nation revolves around sketchy allegations of “electoral sabotage” made by model citizen former Maguindanao governor Andal S. Ampatuan, Sr that supposedly implicated Arroyo.
Escudero suddenly found a “renewed allegation of poll fraud†made by former Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and election officer Lintang Bedol who is also implicating Arroyo in the alleged electoral fraud in the 2007 election in Mindanao.
Perhaps the allegation of electoral fraud surrounding the higher profile “Hello Garci” scandal of 2004 may be a no-go-zone for Aquino’s legal eagles considering that Aquino, at the time a young representative of Tarlac was one of the congressmen who voted against playing of the incriminating recordings from which the cheating scandal exploded…
On June 30, 2005, Tarlac Representative Noynoy Aquino was one of the congressmen who voted against playing the Hello Garci tapes in Congress. The day before, the Philippine Star reported that Aquino called Arroyo’s televised apology (for calling an election official) a “good start” for her administration, and said Arroyo should be commended for admitting her mistake.
Soon after Congress voted on the Garci tapes, Anakpawis Representative Rafael Mariano described Aquino’s vote as “political payback” to protect Arroyo, saying she was the “most powerful and influential patron” of the Cojuangco-Aquinos in the Hacienda Luisita dispute.
The noteworthy thing here is the astounding ineptitude exhibited by Malacañang officials in the lead up to this anti-climactic charge, with the highlight of that story being the profound damage to institutional governance sustained by the state and the spectre of constitutional crisis raised as a result of Justice Secretary De Lima’s desperation to prevent Arroyo from leaving the country.
Arroyo may be guilty of being garapal. But then what politician isn’t to begin with? Indeed, David’s citing of Arroyo’s illegal power grab in 2001 begs the question of Aquino’s recent toying with the notion of “revolutionary government” to restore order in the Philippines in light of the constitutional crisis created by his own henchmen. To David’s citing of Arroyo manicurists and gardeners being appointed to key positions in government, we can point out Noynoy’s very own Kamaganak Inc and Kabarkada Inc who, if we recall, includes the infamous Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno who played a key role in the bungling of a hostage rescue operation that resulted in the deaths of nine Hong Kong tourists…
If the President really wanted to prove that he is a real man and a statesman, he needs to rid his team of his friend. Without secretaries that only serve to weigh down his administration, P-Noy can then concentrate on the business of improving living conditions in the Philippines and not on trivial matters. If he does this, the Filipino people’s Kapalaran might even start to change for the better.
In Puno’s defense, P-Noy stated that his friend’s involvement in the illegal gambling game jueteng and his bungling of the Mendoza crisis are still under investigation. As quoted from the man himself: “So, we have a process. We should give the same process given to our enemies to our friends and allies too. They should also undergo a process. I cannot hang him just because some people asked me to. I don’t think that is right,†he said.
And last but not least, to David’s citing of Arroyo’s garapal “midnight appointments” to the Supreme Court that Aquino threw a tantrum about when he first warmed his seat in Malacañang, well, what do you think he would have done given the chance to appoint justices to the Supreme Court. Perhaps he would not have done so at the eleventh hour of his administration (though that remains to be seen). But what President does not want a Supreme Court made a bit more “cooperative” by a few pals?
Justice is blind, as the cliche goes, and it is blind to what popular sentiment says. So if we are going to hold Arroyo accountable for her alleged “crimes”, let us not do it in the spirit of what is popular, but in the spirit of what is objectively evident. And perhaps we might take the time to speculate (I am Pinoy, after all) on where David’s axe to grind with Arroyo might be coming from. Might it be that dare to run against Arroyo in Pampanga that he shrunk away from in 2009 that continues to niggle at him to this day?
Speaker Prospero Nograles said he was surprised by David’s reason for diving into politics.
“I respect Randy David’s decision to run for congressman in Pampanga. Except I got surprised that it’s only because he disliked PGMA [Arroyo] and not the usual reason for running, which is for public service. Anyway the very big question is, if at all he ever wins a seat, he will have a first-hand experience inside the halls of Congress and may suddenly find out that some of his public criticisms might not be correct or justified at all. At any rate, good luck to Randy,” said Nograles in a text message.
Just saying.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
mr. benigno, you are too good to the man….
Eminent?
Those who can, do; those who cannot, teach.
Well, you know that David hates GMA with a passion. The same goes for De Quiros. Come to think of it, if they woke up one day and suddenly stopped writing against GMA, no one will read them anymore.
Just saying…din.
and good points on “garapal.” 🙂
Tanggapin nyo na ang katotohanan na maraming nagagalit kay Gloria dahil ninakaw niya ang kaban ng bayan. Sumama na kayo sa tuwid na landas habang hindi pa huli ang lahat
@Vincenzo
Marami talagang galit kay GMA obvious naman. Sana lang patunayan muna sa courts yung mga kaso bago husgahan ng mga tao.
I hope you have learned you lesson. The next time we see you using Jejemon speak or foul language again, your comments will go back to the spam folder. You can try changing your IP address as many times as you want but the same “lesson” will happen to your comment if you don’t behave.
Sa SC? Eh mga apP0inteE ni gloria nandyan.plitan muna mga yan
@Vincenzo B. Arellano
Sa mga sangay ng gobyerno, ang SC lang ang maaasahan mong sumusumod sa saligang batas at due process. Etong mga Aquino admin puro suwail kahit sa batas na pinagawa mismo ni Cory-Kurakot—ang nanay ni AbNoy na malamang na nasusunog na sa impiyernong luma!
Sagot pala ni AbNoy sa korapsyon ay ang di pag-sunod sa batas ni Cory. Si Gloria na lang talaga yung pinagiinitan ni AbNoy—Di pala sya talaga interesado sa pag-alis ng korapsyon—Bakit pa lalong isinulong ang pork-barrel practice na yan?—Bakit hindi inaksyonan yang FOI (Freedom of Information) act na yan (ayaw ni AbNoy ng transparency?)—Bakit railroaded (hay hindi…bullet train na pala…hihi) ang mga charges na yan?—Bakit yun maraming buhay na napinsala tulad ng Hacienda Luisita, Corbito-Dacer case, atbp ay hindi inuuna?
4-5 beses nang nag-abroad yan si GMA (bumabalik-balik naman sya) kahit na dating meron nang mga ganyang panata na nakasampa sa kanya—Bakit ngayon lang bigla silang naghinala na di babalik? (napahiya ba si De Lima sa nagyari kay Ping Lacson at gusto nyang bumawi ngayon, o pabor lang sila kay Lacson at galit lang sila kay GMA? Di rin kaya na panakip-butas na naman si GMA dahil bumabagsak na naman tiwala sa administrasyong AbNoy?)
@Vincenzo B. Arellano
Eh etong si Carpio-Morales na appointee na ni AbNoy, nadi-dismiss na yun 2 kaso hinggil sa plunder (weak cases). Walang mapag-pilian kundi yun electoral fraud—pero si Ampatuan at si Norie Unas (of Maguindanao massacre “fame”) ang dinadahilan nilang witnesses para lang maisulong etong electoral fraud charge, basta lang makapag-sampa ng charges kahit kaduda-duda etong mga [false] witnesses na eto. Desperado nalang talaga etong sila AbNoy at alagang baboy nyang si De Lima.
Ba’t ka naman maniniwala sa hearsay? Kung may ninakaw siya, then prove it in court. Sablay ka na naman dahil she was charged of electoral sabotage and not plunder.
Sorry, but you’re lying. The “Matuwid na Daan” na you’re talking about is not really “matuwid.” Baluktot iyon. Nagsasabi ako ng totoo.
We all know every politician isn’t pure in heart nor in mind. What we can do is that we are more open-minded in what good things they did to attempt to improve this nation. Though things for a lot of people here are still not better, earning peanuts and all, it is actually you, who defends through and through of incompetence and pseudo imperialism, that mostly hinders great changes to this nation. The mentality you share is so much like the past generations who still want to be under a disguised imperialist state (be it US or your beloved heroic elites), who does not recognise that Philippines is not only composed of Tagalogs, who does not acknowledge the concerns of ethnic minorities which unbeknownst to you have suffered many years of institutional racism (again, your beloved elites shove this down our throats), who continue to glorify fame and beauty (who again is constantly being practiced for generations by your ‘heroes’) rather than education and intellect. Me from the Visayas region am angry about how most of our taxes still goes to the capital even if ‘your’ government haven’t used it wisely to improve your lives AND your mindsets. I cannot blame for the anger felt by minority Mindanao, who has always been neglected of everything that could improve their lives by the government, as if it never existed (probably you’re the same group who deem Visayans and all others as ‘inferior’ to you). And the shame you bring to others worldwide, the incompetence, the pile of dirt that is Manila, that stupid bus crisis accident and those foolish enough to even take ‘souvenir’ pictures amidst that awful event, you who show what the whole Philippines is to the rest of the world. Yes, continue on with your defense because someday some of us around here down under won’t need to wait for you anymore to initiate changes.
@Vicenzo,
spekulasyon. yun ang sa akin. syempre galit kami marinig na nagnakaw sya ng pera ng bayan pero hindi pa yun napapatunayan e. Pag napatunayan na totoo tsaka ako sasama sa mga taong sumisigaw ng magnanakaw.
OT: glad to see complete words from you.
That’s because he is probably not the real Vicenzo. The original one had to be spammed because he kept spewing foul language. Notice that he’s style is different now? I hope he bahaves for his sake.
now i know that aquinos are acquiring power for the sake of revenge. i call now the aquinos as hunger……….. hunger for revenge from marcos down to gma. what a waste of time instead of focusing on the economy. he is more interested on revenge. using filipinos as camouflage, poor philippines not going on the right path for improvement.
“maraming nagagalit kay Gloria”? You kidding me? You are just a few of the SOOO LOUD “MINORITY”… and fed up with this ‘vindictive’ government that is soooo full of hate. And, as for “sumama na kayo sa ‘tuwid’ na landas”… Is violating the law like what delima did really worth it? Violating one’s civil rights to defend another…is that really what a filipino is all about nowadays? Shame on you people for showing the world that the Filipinos are inhuman by not showing any compassion to a sickly person.
It reminded so eerily of how Gaddafi was captured, ridden with bullets and was being picked on like a wounded chicken. It was chillingly disturbing. I don’t defend the dictator and oppressor that he was, but the least the people could have done was to not end up as inhuman as he was. I don’t know what others think of that, but this is just what I felt when that scene just flashed through my screen months ago.
and to think they are proud to be christians. oh wait! i haven’t heard from the cbcp’s. where are the loudmouths of morality on this issue?
It’s just the opinion of Randy David, based on his mere speculations, or figment of his own imagination. Mr. David is trying to justify the transgression by the Noynoy Aquino administration, of the Philippine Constitution, approved by her mother: Cory Aquino. It’s a Blatant Act of USURPATION on the Power of the Judiciary, by the Executive Power of the government…Plain and simple…We don’t have to put legal technicalities and jargons, to confuse our Wowoowee people…It’s very ironic…
Benign0 always argues in circle…. He damned the administration for failing to file a case against GMA and damned it for filing one which he considers would not hold water because it was “sketchy”. hehehehe…
http://jcc34.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/gma-and-her-obscence-constitutional-discourse/
You got two out of three things right:
(1) Failure to file a case over the last five years; and,
(2) Filing a sketchy case at the eleventh hour.
As to the third, “arguing in circles”? Well, that one depends on what your definition of “circles” is. 😀
Bravo for your sheer idiocy and ignorance. Sorry if I’m not drinking the yellow kool-aide, ehehehe
If this guy Randy really true for himself of righteousness why he quit running of representative against CGMA in Pampanga.. he ‘s only have blabbering mouth and full of air…
If we say that the justices of the Supreme Court are biased in favor of Arroyo by virtue of who appointed them in their posts, we must take a look at the voting pattern for their recent decision. It would appear that indeed the justices have drawn the line depending on who appointed them, Arroyo or Aquino. It just so happened that Arroyo’s outnumber Aquino’s. I heard this from some Arroyo lawyer who took his chance in the radio to rebut the allegations about the Supreme Court taking sides.
Anyway, it should be clear now to the visitors of GRP, that the regulars here (and similar sites like Anti-Pinoy) may respect Arroyo as a nemesis since she could give them an intellectual challenge. They can be less forgiving on someone like Aquino whose shortcomings challenge the intellect, so to speak.
Occupy SC, plitan mga inilagay ni Gloria jan, lhat na ninakaw s atin, hnd lng pera, pti hustisya pa
Magisip-isip na kayong mga AbNoy fantards at malamang mag occupy Malacañang ang taumbayan. Ayaw nila AbNoy na meron separation of powers; Gusto lang nilang totalitarian government pero ruled by the oligarchs!
Vincenzo wanted a dictatorship. The dictatorship of the oligarchy which he also get a large amount of money from rich families.
“Magisip-isip na kayong mga AbNoy fantards at malamang mag occupy Malacañang ang taumbayan. Ayaw nila AbNoy na meron separation of powers; Gusto lang nilang totalitarian government pero ruled by the oligarchs”
— Okay and the owner of this site is talking about taking the high road and not being vindictive.. Really, this is taking the high road? I’m sure the former president did not think of taking the “high road” while she was President. I guess this whole issue can be rightfully summed up into a one-liner: “Karma is a bitch”
And now that it’s Noynoy’s turn to take the high road, it is ok for you?
I’m sure karma will be a biatch to Noynoy too.
@Cornlius
The comments made by the commenters on the comment section of this site belong solely to the comment writers alone. It should not be mistaken as a reflection of the views of the writers and site owner of GRPost unless we explicitly say so. 😉
so now we know that the SC has ruled to distribute hacienda luisita land but cannot implement because aquino appointed sereno is refusing to submit her opinion.
such tacky tactics is an insult and not worthy of a judge.
if there is no independence or integrity in the supreme court then there is little hope for justice.
since sereno is under orders from aquino it shows how corrupt he is and no different, and that he will do anything legal and illegal to prosecute arroyo and to keep hacienda luisita. those 2 things and playing with toys is all he cares about.
ang mga langgam ay walang mapapala sa labanan o away ng mga elepante. pero kapag namatay ang elepante pwede ng langgamin. what is happening in the pinoy government is just a kurap vs. kurap intramurals and sarsuela. pagkatapos ng palabas mahirap pa rin ang mamamayan.