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Friday, April 28, 2006
Government won't probe girl who called Arroyo 'bogus leader'
MALACAÑANG on Thursday said there is no need to investigate Ma. Theresa Pangilinan, the Mass Communications graduate and student council president of the Cavite State University (CSU) who heckled President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her keynote speech at the school graduation rites last April 21.
Presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, in separate interviews, countered the order of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. to investigate Pangilinan, saying there is no need to blow up the issue.
Defensor said the investigation is unnecessary. "I believe the President showed magnanimity. She showed extreme grace under pressure, under those circumstances. I think it's for the school authorities rather than for other agencies to look into this," he said.
Bunye, for his part, said President Arroyo would not shy away from graduation ceremonies and other functions. He said the President would just decide whether to attend an event on a case-to-case basis.
Defensor, a former student activist, was made to talk with Pangilinan by radio station dzMM Thursday morning and advised Pangilinan to "respect" solemn rites like graduations, saying Arroyo insisted on attending the CSU graduation even if she was told that she should have just declined and sent somebody else.
He offered his personal "assistance" to Pangilinan if she is meted sanction by agencies like the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Pangilinan said she will not stop calling for Arroyo's ouster because her administration does not deserve to stay in power.
She said she is not afraid of sanction by the Ched, including the "reconsideration" of her diploma. She said it would only reinforce the impression of campus repression. (JMR/Sunnex)
(April 28, 2006 issue)
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