MANILA
Will former President Gloria Arroyo be spending Christmas in jail? It’s a possibility.
Some six legal cases have been lodged against Arroyo since leaving office end-June 2010. Most of them are for plunder which, legally defined, is the theft of the people’s money worth at least P50 million while in office.
I had visualized when Arroyo was about to leave office those legal activists would race against each other in filing cases against her the very day she left office. While that didn’t literally happen, to date several cases have indeed been filed against her. Plunder is a non-bailable case, meaning that once a complaint has been filed and accepted by a court, the judge can issue a warrant of arrest against the accused.
But it’s a different case that could put Mrs. Arroyo in prison this Christmas. A joint Department of Justice and Commission on Elections panel is looking into Arroyo’s role in alleged election cheating in 2007. If found by the panel that there’s “probable cause” to take Arroyo to court, then she is likely to find herself in jail because election rigging or sabotage is also a non-bailable offense.
Is the possibility of Arroyo wishing “I’ll be home for Christmas” while in jail a reality?
The possibility came to light recently when the chairman of the Comelec was asked by the press when the joint panel probing alleged election wrongdoing would turn in its report and recommend charges. The Comelec chairman, Sixto Brillantes, answered, by the end of November. The follow-up question then was: if the panel concluded that, indeed, there was an election-related crime committed and there is probable cause to indict Arroyo for the crime, would that mean that she will be thrown in jail because the alleged crime is non-bailable? The only answer was “yes,” because that’s what the law calls for. So, in theory, Mrs. Arroyo could be celebrating Christmas in jail.
The next day’s headline after Brillantes’ statement, expectedly, was: “Christmas in jail for Arroyo?” Arroyo’s lawyers and defenders, expectedly, cried foul and accused Brillantes of prejudging the case.
Poor Brillantes. He was only responding to a media question. He was only stating what was called for by the law, that because the alleged crime is non-bailable, then the accused will automatically be jailed and has no recourse to bail while the case is being litigated.
(FLASH! At press time, the DOJ-Comelec panel has recommended the filing of a case of election sabotage against Mrs. Arroyo “for giving direct instructions” to rig the results of the 2007 elections in the province of Maguindanao on Mindanao Island. The case is non-bailable and is punishable by life imprisonment.)
In any event, the number of cases being filed against Arroyo (along with some of her former officials, plus her husband Mike in some instances) are piling up. Even if some of the cases won’t prosper because of lack of merit (or sloppy preparation by government lawyers), the law of averages will work against her. How she will dodge all of the cases will be her and her lawyers’ preoccupation in the months ahead.
The preparation of the cases by the government’s lawyers, therefore, will be the key to a successful prosecution. In the hands of these lawyers will lay the crucial fate of the cases, and of course, that of Mrs. Arroyo.
The Ombudsman, in whose office most of the cases will be filed, is in the process of beefing up her legal staff, the better to handle the stream of cases being lodged against the former President and some of her officials.
The coming months and years will be interesting. The people will be watching developments on Arroyo’s cases very intently. The cases will even have a polarizing effect on the citizenry, especially if the economy doesn’t improve soon.
The economy is a factor because there’s been an economic slowdown in the country recently. Incumbent President Benigno Aquino III had ordered a comprehensive review of projects started during his predecessor administration, to find out if they were above board. Consequently, the review has caused the projects to be put on hold and, thus, development activity has come to a virtual standstill, resulting in a temporary loss of jobs for many workers, suspension of contracts of suppliers and other project-related activities. The stoppage of the projects has dampened national economic activity.
The political opposition and even neutral observers have complained about the economic slowdown and warned of possible dire consequences to the nation’s economic health. The Aquino government has promised a resumption of economic works soon. How successful and productive these will be will bear heavily on people’s perception of how Mr. Aquino is handling the economy.
All other activity, including the cases against Arroyo, will be affected by how the economy performs in the coming months. That includes how Mr. Aquino will fare in future surveys on his performance. Which, in turn, will have a bearing on whether the people will continue to support his crusade against bad government, in particular the prosecution of the cases against Mrs. Arroyo?
As it is, some people, particularly those who dislike Aquino, have been griping that he has been preoccupied with pursuing Mrs. Aquino, to the neglect of everything else, particularly the economy.
So, Christmas in jail for Gloria Arroyo? Maybe. But what’s more important than the timing is whether Aquino’s lawyers will be able to put her there permanently.
