Having it good?
The cases filed against former president and now House Speaker Gloria Arroyo can’t seem to stick. The Pasay Regional Trial Court recently dismissed the electoral sabotage case against Arroyo, as the prosecution did not prove her guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
You can now count this along with the dismissed plunder cases of the ZTE-NBN broadband deal and the alleged illegal use of funds from PCSO, where hundreds of millions were involved. I’m reminded of John Gotti, who was nicknamed “The Teflon Don” after three big cases against him resulted in acquittal.
The court also cited the opportunity of the prosecution to prove that Arroyo was guilty, without the defendant providing evidence to defend herself. What she said was among the 11 witnesses against her, only one mentioned her name, which the other witnesses could not corroborate. It seems that the government’s case was weak from the start, which even lasted several years.
We are not lawyers so we cannot say whether the prosecution believed they had a strong case against Arroyo. What I do not understand is that in the long run, they could not seem to strengthen the cases against her, leading to the dismissal of all three big cases. What evidence did they initially have in order to file cases against her in the first place?
There are those already criticizing the decision, calling it an injustice, so on and so forth. We really cannot do anything if that is what the courts have now decided. It seems she no longer requires to be hospitalized, does not need a wheelchair and neck brace.
She seems to have healed along with the dismissals. According to her lawyer, it was the best gift the Arroyo family could receive this New Year. So it was a gift? Just asking.
It seems those allied with the administration have it good. Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada were granted bail, even if they still face plunder charges. Bong Revilla’s case was likewise dismissed, even if he was ordered to return more than a hundred million that the prosecution proved was in his account.
He has yet to do that. The brother of resigned tourism secretary Wanda Teo has likewise not returned the controversial sixty million the DOT paid him for “services rendered”.
Then there are the conflict of interest issues against Solicitor General Calida and his family’s security agency, and now we have the so-called “favored contractor” of the Palace, specifically Budget Sec. Diokno which the House will investigate come the New Year. I can already see where that will lead to. Nothing, just like the rest of the aforementioned cases.
Only the critic of the administration, Sen. Leila De Lima remains in jail, with her case practically in limbo. And who knows what the administration can throw back against Sen. Trillanes as the New Year comes in. Just the same, Happy New Year to everyone!
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