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Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Penalty, penance sought for Arroyo
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should still pay for her improper act, be it through penance or penalty, after she admitted that she talked to an elections official during last year's polls.
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla said the "constitutional process (must) prevail" and that the President should know that for every (bad) action she has committed, it has a corresponding penalty."
But for Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the President committed no crime or even a mistake in judgment because what she just did was to protect her votes.
"There is no basis for her to resign or be impeached. The torture of adverse publicity and speculation in the past few weeks should be sufficient punishment, if she committed any moral lapse," Santiago said.
But in a statement on his website, deposed president Joseph Estrada said the wiretapped phone calls showed Arroyo was involved in "special operations to alter the votes."
"No democracy can abide having a president with such a cloud over her claim to mandate," Estrada said. "And no self-respecting leader can pretend to govern in such circumstances."
"If Arroyo refuses to quit, she must face appropriate charges "for her active role in election fraud," he said.
Estrada was ousted by a military-backed people power revolt in 2001 amid allegations of widespread corruption. He is under house arrest while on trial.
Calls for Arroyo to step down have escalated since her Monday night apology for her prolonged silence on the wiretapping scandal that broke out when tape recordings first surfaced about two weeks ago.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said what the President should do is resign, a call shared by former presidential candidate Bro. Eduardo "Eddie" Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinas.
Villanueva said in a press statement that Arroyo did the right thing by admitting that she made the call, but he urged her to show sincere repentance by resigning from her post.
The opposition is also keeping its option open to the possible impeachment of Arroyo.
Five committees of the House of Representatives are set to resume their joint inquiry into the recordings Wednesday.
Senators Rodolfo Biazon and Santiago said there is no more reason to prevent the House from playing the tape that allegedly showed Arroyo attempting to rig the results of the presidential race last year.
Arroyo, in a televised address to the nation Monday night, admitted that she did call an election official at the height of canvassing of presidential votes last year but she explained that she did it because of the "unnecessary delay" in the counting and she was "anxious" to protect her votes.
Nonetheless, she apologized for the "lapse in judgment." She also said she takes full responsibility for the act.
With Arroyo's admission that it was her voice in the tape, Santiago said "the go-ahead should be given not only to the House of Representatives but also to the media."
Biazon, for his part, said that in order to know the truth, the public should hear the complete contents of the tape.
"The ongoing inquiry in the House of Representatives may now examine the tapes so that each phrase, each sentence may be analyzed to determine whether this is just a simple case of a lapse of judgment or a case of a commission of a more serious impeachable offense by ferreting out the truth," Biazon said.
He also said that by hearing the tape, the people would know if other people were involved and this would determine if there was a conspiracy to cheat in the last presidential elections.
Biazon urged former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Samuel Ong to surface and surrender what he called the "mother of all tapes" to the proper agency for further examination.
Senators Luisa Ejercito and her son Jinggoy Estrada also supported calls for the playing of the tape in public.
Even as there are fears that Arroyo's admission might result in social unrest, Archbishop Capalla appealed for sobriety.
"We further stress (that) the rule of law (must prevail). We allow our people and our representatives in Congress to discern her apology," Capalla said.
For his part, Senate President Franklin Drilon said the President showed a lot of courage and humility when she told the truth about the controversial wiretapped conversation.
His view is shared by local officials in Cebu City.
Drilon also suggested that Arroyo replace officials in her administration who have done nothing but erode her credibility, as part of efforts to regain the people's trust.
"The President's willingness to crack down on public officials implicated in the recent scandals as well as their underlings in key government positions will be seen as an important first step towards genuine reforms," he said.
However, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Arroyo committed another blatant act of dishonesty by claiming she did not intend to influence the outcome of the 2004 elections when she called the unnamed Comelec official.
"That was the tone of her message. But it was not true. True, election day was over but the counting and canvassing of votes were still going on. And I think she is again guilty of another dishonesty in that respect," Pimentel said.
According to the opposition, the tapes show that Arroyo and former elections official Virgilio Garcillano conspired to steal votes from opposition candidate Fernando Poe, who died in the middle of his election protest in December.
However, Arroyo denied that her call was meant to manipulate votes to her favor and urged the country to unite behind her as her government undertakes economic reforms. (JPM/JFF/MSN/PR/Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
(June 29, 2005 issue)
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