The Royal We?

Each day brings with it wondrous discoveries as to how the mind of the Arroyo clan works. And while shocking, it’s probably not surprising.

As soon as the matriarch’s petition for permission to travel abroad had been denied, care of our Madame Secretary of Justice, the Arroyo patriarch swiftly launched an offensive.

First, he challenged President Noy Aquino, who had earlier declared that if there was really a medical specialist who couldn’t be found within our 7,100 islands who was capable of looking into Representative Gloria Arroyo’s degeneration (I mean bone degeneration, ok) then the Philippine government, at its own expense, would just fly in that super special specialist to the country.This, rather than risk the Arroyos flying the coop now that the stench of their messes here and there are starting to waft up into our patrician noses.

Of course, the proposition that there is no such specialist has already been refuted by the medical community, and the bone biopsy procedure she cited as needed by her has been determined to be only optional rather than imperative.As the lovely power couple now pose a flight risk, it wouldn’t really do for them to be high-tailing it to Turkey or some other non-extradition treaty country on the pretext of a medical condition (which, by all accounts, cannot be considered life threatening). And by the way, they kept changing their destination plans - wouldn’t that make your hackles rise?

It’s probably precisely because of Aquino’s offer that the Arroyos are now shifting the focus of their argument.From ‘medical necessity’, it’s now their constitutional right to travel. It’s a shift distinction they need tomake now that their medical arguments have been debunked.The issue is now not whether they have to travel, but whether they can, whatever the reasons behind their travel plans.This is probably the argument they’re going to emphasize before the Supreme Court, and ask the justices to rule on.

Anyway, here’s the reaction of the Arroyo patriarch to the President’s offer: He says rather than the Philippine government flying their doctor in, why doesn’t the President of the Republic just fly with them, and he can guard Gloria’s hospital bed himself?

Amazing.I am floored by the sheer temerity of it, how he can nonchalantly throw that challenge to a sitting President who, apparently, has time not just to handle the state’s affairs but also to nursemaid an ailing biddy. (Oops, Webster defines a ‘biddy’ as a young chick or as an elderly woman. Of course, I mean it in the former sense).

I wonder what he expects the President to do once he sees Gloria shuffling out in her hospital robe, pink bunny slippers and all, about to bolt the hospital.Is President Noy expected to tackle the woman bodily, throw her down on the floor, and cuff her?How statesmanlike.

Next, Papa Arroyo says his family is being harassed and persecuted. He also says, in what I hope is an accurate quote by the Inquirer, that “this never happened during our administration.”Note his use of the word “our.”As in, not just his wife’s presidency but, ahem, also his? Is this an admission of how he viewed the state of affairs during the years Gloria was in power?That her power was also his to play with?

The Arroyos can, as their issue has ripened, now file their petition before the Supreme Court (if they haven’t already, I may be behind on this) and try to get a favorable ruling from a court whose majority was appointed during (in the words of the patriarch) “our administration”.

One other avenue they’re exploring in their stratagem: asking the high court to quash the investigation against them for electoral fraud. The next few months should bring out more issues and interesting developments to the fore, but one thing’s for sure: the road ahead for the Arroyos (plural) is a long one.