P-Noy: GMA deserves to be in jail

CEBU CITY, Philippines  – Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo deserves to be in jail, President Aquino said yesterday.

He was reacting to observations that a Supreme Court ruling allowing Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to post P1.5 million bail can benefit Arroyo, who is herself seeking court approval of her petition to bail.

He also disagreed with most of his Liberal Party allies in the House of Representatives, led by Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., who signed a House resolution calling for the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to allow house arrest for Arroyo, who is under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

Aquino, titular head and chairman of the ruling LP, theorized that being lawmakers and mostly male, his colleagues could have been persuaded into signing the resolution out of pity or respect, or they may have felt it was the gentlemanly thing to do.

But he added the information available to legislators may have been “inadequate.”

He said it is perfectly alright for Arroyo to remain at the VMMC and being under house arrest would not afford her greater leeway in addressing her medical issues.

“If she has no medical issue, then why keep her in a hospital?”

He stressed that Arroyo’s plunder case is a non-bailable offense. He said granting Arroyo the privilege of house arrest would not sit well with the people and with future generations.

He said there is appropriate punishment for every crime.

He stressed that success in fighting corruption is measured not just by the number of cases filed but by convictions.