Former Philippine President Arroyo does not deserve bail - Akbayan

In my view, Mrs. Arroyo is guilty. In fact, I believe that the evidence against her is strong, and her involvement in plunder is obvious. This is precisely why my party, Akbayan (Citizens Action Party), went to the Sandiganbayan and filed the PCSO plunder case against her. And with strong conviction, I believe she must not be granted bail.

The nation is at a crucial juncture in history; the public has risen against massive corruption, then against Mrs. Arroyo and her family’s involvement in various scandals, and now, with the expose on Napoles and the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) scam that put a majority of the nation’s elected officials under grave public scrutiny. The fight against the abuse of public office is coming to a head; now more than ever, the people demand accountability and justice for what seems to be institutionalized corruption in public office. Now more than ever, we cannot, as a people, afford to look away from Mrs. Arroyo’s transgressions. As I said in the interview, the GMA years were 9 years of unmitigated corruption, morally bankrupt leadership, and the exploitation of national coffers for personal gain. Now more than ever, the government must meet the people’s demand for justice.

What I said in the interview was that I could not understand why the Sandiganbayan had dismissed the different plunder cases against Arroyo since in preparing the impeachment cases against her in 2009, we in the House of Representatives found the cases of plunder to be quite strong. While discussing the PCSO case, the two other participants in the interview said that Mrs. Arroyo deserved to be granted bail since the other accused co-conspirators had been allowed to post bail. I responded that I believed the Sandiganbayan's claim that its case against Mrs. Arroyo is strong. However, I said that the Sandiganbayan could not simply say that the evidence against Mrs. Arroyo is "implicit." I said that to assure the people that the continued incarceration of Mrs. Arroyo is justified, the Sandiganbayan has to make the implicit evidence against Mrs. Arroyo explicit, and that I would go personally go to the Sandiganbayan to request this.

At no point did I say that Mrs. Arroyo was being unjustly persecuted, as stated in an article reporting that I supported granting Mrs. Arroyo bail. Indeed, Akbayan believes that Mrs. Arroyo is guilty of plunder, not only in the PCSO case but in the other cases that have been brought against her.

Akbayan makes the commitment to take the Sandiganbayan to task. The Sandiganbayan must rise to the challenge and prove that it takes the side of the people in this quest for justice. It must make the implicit evidence against Mrs. Arroyo explicit to assure the public that her continued internment was fair, just, and in accordance with the law. The Sandiganbayan must reinforce the strong evidence against Mrs. Arroyo and prove beyond doubt that bail is not an option. In doing so, we take the first concrete step toward Mrs. Arroyo’s conviction.

https://akbayan.org.ph/news/12-press-releases/445-gma-does-not-deserve-bail