Again, in defiance of the rule of law

A group of us visited former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo the other day to find out how she was. She is very sick, frail and anxious, but also very determined that she be treated justly. It is this desire that has kept her going. I ventured to tell her that her health was more important than any other consideration.

No, she said. It isn’t. The most important was justice and freedom. The government had no right under the rule of law to keep her detained with unproven charges. Even if she is technically free after posting the P1 million bail she is being treated like a criminal with unproven charges. She needs to go abroad for health reasons but it is not for that reason alone that she is fighting.

The issue here is whether it is right in a democratic society to treat a citizen in such an unjust and arbitrary manner by the government. 

She is entitled to legal rights like any other citizen. It is unfortunate that President Aquino is obsessed in treating her as his personal enemy and will use all his powers to punish her regardless of the law.

President Aquino will destroy institutions to declare her a criminal according to him rather than according to law. That is dangerous. This ails her more than her illness, severe as it is. Whatever our political leanings, we must stop this naked use of power before it is too late…for all of us who want to live in a society under the rule of law.

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She has been put under a CT Scan protocol by Dr. Roberto Anastacio of the Makati Medical Center.

The CT-Scan on the former head of state revealed a displaced titanium plate in her cervical spine which was implanted during an unsuccessful operation. “The Superior plate is functionally displaced and compressing the periform recess, the laryngical vestibule and muscles along the voice box with the inferior plate (T1) compressing the trachea,” the medical bulletin said.

“The presence of a displaced titanium plate along C2-C3 is a serious factor in the mechanism of breathing and subsequently blood circulation which may lead to sudden death,” said Dr. Anastacio. He also noted the beginning of a partial obstruction in her coronary arteries. This comes from the massive calcium dosage she needed for her spinal rehab.

Anastacio, advised that a “neuro-cervical” doctor based in New York could examine the former president and be in a better position to recommend the appropriate medical intervention for her ailment.

Recently Mrs. Arroyo had an episode of severe swallowing dysfunction (air unable to enter her lungs). She has had difficulty eating and swallowing even water.

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She is charged with plunder, an unbailable offense before the Ombudsman who brought the case against the former president before the Sandiganbayan. Arroyo’s counsels argued that the Ombudsman elevated the case to the anti-graft court without giving Arroyo a chance to counter the complaint.

President Aquino’s unconscionable use of power is encouraged by the swan song that this is the way forward for the country. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

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MISCELLANY: On Monday, we celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Fitr in deference to our fellow Muslim citizens. The gesture of friendship is marred by the bad news in Zamboanga City where Muslim students are being disallowed to wear Islamic veils in Pilar College.

National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Sec. Mehol Sadain is on her way to Zamboanga City carrying hundreds of signatures to appeal the ruling with Pilar College president Sr. Maria Balbas. The signatures were gathered as the “Right to Hibab” petition.

The appeal was made and shared in Facebook. We hope that Sec. Sadain will be successful in her mission and that Pilar College would change its policy in pursuit of religious tolerance.

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I recently received a posting from a FB friend on the question of how a president must behave when facing victims of a tragedy. This was provoked by the furor on the difference between Red Cross Chairman Richard Gordon and President Aquino. The first came to the rescue riding an amphibian pulling up the old and young from the water. The President came in a truck accompanied by senatorial candidates waving and smiling to the people. It may be unreasonable to expect the President to wade in the water like Gordon did, but something was utterly missing and many saw it. To me it came in a posting of a news item on President Lyndon B. Johnson:

“In the United States in September 1965, in the wake of a terrible hurricane that slammed into Louisiana and left thousands of Americans homeless, hungry and quaking in the cold, Lyndon B. Johnson created one of the most defining moments of his presidency with a simple but powerful gesture. He flew posthaste to the darkened city of New Orleans, held a flashlight to his face, and barked into a megaphone: “My name is Lyndon Baines Johnson. I am your president. I am here to make sure you have the help you need.”

The leadership of a head of state must come through even in a simple but dramatic gesture like President LBJ did.

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It is good to hear that the food manufacturers and exporters have come together to voice out their concern. Calling themselves “The Competitive Currency Forum” it is an informal, multi-sectoral group from the local business sector, academe, and OFWs, advocating monetary policies leading to a competitive currency.   

In a press statement they said: Market-determined currency is suited for developed economies. For a developing economy, a competitive but stable currency is needed. Thus, monetary and government officials must adopt a competitive currency policy and then the currency can really be considered “strong”. Strong words and a difficult cause to champion but if they are able to tap the various interests that believe in what they are doing, it will indeed be a formidable forum.