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120 lawmakers laud PNoy’s anti-corruption drive after Arroyo’s arrest


A total of 120 members of the House of Representatives signed a resolution expressing support for President Benigno Aquino III’s anti-corruption efforts amid criticisms on how the administration is handling the case against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The congressmen, led by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., filed on Tuesday House Resolution 1918 commending Aquino’s “transformational leadership" and commitment to “a truly impartial system of institutions that deliver equal justice to both the rich and the poor." Although the official version of the resolution did not make any reference to the filing of electoral sabotage case against Mrs. Arroyo, the filing of the resolution came a few days after her arrest which, according to some Aquino critics, was done in haste. Mrs. Arroyo is currently under police custody at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City. She is being accused of giving orders to rig the 2007 polls in favor of administration senatorial candidates during her incumbency. Toned down Belmonte said the resolution was “toned down" so that it can gather multiparty support. He added that the original draft expressed support for the Aquino government’s move to block Mrs. Arroyo’s foreign trip despite a Supreme Court order effectively allowing her to travel abroad. "We had a meeting and I proposed this version that really expresses our support for the efforts of the President, ‘yung ating anti-corruption process, the whole thing," he said at a press briefing. Part of the document read: “The contemporaneous events have shown that President Aquino has been consistent in his zeal to weed out corruption, inefficiency, and abuse of power in all branches of government." Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, for his part, said the filing of a House resolution in support for an incumbent president is not unheard of in the past. "This is just an expression of support to the general program of the President, and the manner he has wielded his political will in doing so," he said at the same press briefing. "Selective" justice? At the Senate, however, at least three senators believed the filing of charges against Mrs. Arroyo, now a congresswoman representing Pampanga’s second district, was done in haste. Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., for one, alleged that the Aquino administration was "selective" in applying justice. "They are very selective in their application of justice. They are very selective in their application of the use of the powers of the executive and that selection is according to political and partisan [affiliation]," Marcos told reporters in an ambush interview on Tuesday. Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III had earlier expressed apprehension over the alleged hasty filing of the electoral sabotage case and issuance of warrant of arrest against Mrs. Arroyo. “It is unfortunate that the case against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is blemished with indecent haste. The integrity of our judicial system is at stake. The wheels of justice must march to the beat of its own drums and not fanned by political winds," said Sotto, who ran under the Arroyo ticket in the 2007 elections. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, for her part, said there is a “movement" within Malacañang that is putting Aquino in "legal peril." Marcos said that although he is for the prosecution of Mrs. Arroyo, he believes the Aquino administration was getting “too personal" against her. "The administration is and has been getting very personal kasama na rin kami dun," said Marcos, whose father, the late Ferdinand Sr., was ousted from power in 1986 and replaced by Aquino’s mother, the late President Corazon Aquino. Working institutions Albay Governor Joey Salceda, meanwhile, defended the Aquino administration’s treatment of Mrs. Arroyo, saying what happened to her shows that the institutions in the country are working. "It is beyond one person, it is all about our institutions whether they are working, I think they are working, the institutions of law, the rule of law is there," he said in an interview at Malacañang where he discussed the National Climate Change Action Plan that will be submitted by the Philippines to the United Nations. . Both Salceda and Aquino became students of Mrs. Arroyo. Salceda even served as Mrs. Arroyo’s economic adviser during her presidency. - with Kim Tan and Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News

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