Arroyo camp: Aquino admin shamed PHL with asylum row

With the Dominican Republic denying any bid by former President Gloria Arroyo to seek asylum, the Aquino administration – particularly Justice Secretary Leila de Lima – has shamed the Philippines before the international community. This was the claim of Arroyo’s spokesperson Elena Bautista-Horn Sunday, as she cited reports that the denial came from the Dominican Republic’s foreign minister. “We have been shamed before the Dominican Republic and the international community. It is a shame we had to drag the Dominican Republic into a domestic mess," she said in an interview on dzBB radio. Earlier reports quoted Dominican Republic foreign minister Carlos Morales Troncoso as saying his government had not received any application for asylum from Arroyo. A separate report on dzBB radio said this prompted Arroyo’s camp to demand an apology from the Aquino administration. “Ang ating gobyerno sobrang obsessed sa pagkulong sa dating pangulo. Who is taking care of the house?" Horn said. Early last week, Secretary De Lima was quoted as saying the Department of Justice is verifying information about the political asylum issue, and that the DOJ has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to check with the Caribbean country if the rumor was true. In the same dzBB interview on Sunday, Horn asked the public to keep watch over the government’s next moves to “railroad" cases against the former president so she can be jailed. She cited earlier reports quoting President Benigno Aquino III as hinting Arroyo may be jailed by Christmas. “No formal charges have been filed against Arroyo yet but this administration already has a timetable on when she should be jailed. So do we expect a fair trial from this administration if it already gave a directive to jail her?" she said. Horn said the Arroyo camp will study whether to ask the House of Representatives for another travel authority, noting the present authority lapses on December 5. In contrast, she said the courts had been fairer, with a Quezon City court allowing Arroyo’s son, Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, to leave for the United States. “You can see how professional our judiciary is. The courts were objective in looking at the merits of the case. The problem with the executive branch is that it is encroaching on the judiciary’s job in deciding whether to prevent someone from leaving the country," she said. — LBG, GMA News