A real merry Christmas

For ailing former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, she will be celebrating a little bit longer this year’s Christmas with her family after more than five years languishing in hospital detention. This, after no less than the Supreme Court (SC) ruled to grant the petition of Mrs. Arroyo for Christmas furlough from 8 a.m. of Dec. 23 until 5 p.m. of Dec. 26, and from 8 a.m. of Dec. 30 up to 5 p.m. of Jan. 2, 2016.

Mrs. Arroyo promptly left her hospital suite at the state-run Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City last Wednesday morning and was heavily escorted by police cars to her family home in La Vista Subdivision. Incidentally, the ex-president was ordered anew to pay for the costs of her police escorts and is disallowed to grant media interview during her furlough.

Arroyo lawyers have filed petitions at the Sandiganbayan and aired public appeals urging the government of President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III to allow 68-year-old Mrs. Arroyo to post bail so that she can seek medical treatment abroad. After undergoing neck surgery in August 2011, Mrs. Arroyo has been having episodes of this recurring medical problem.

The former president has been placed under hospital arrest for a non-bailable crime of plunder due to her alleged involvement in the misuse of P365 million in confidential funds of the state-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). Her lawyers have been fighting tooth and nail against government prosecutors in the grant of “house arrest,” if not bail, for their severely ailing client before the Sandiganbayan.

Ironically, the anti-graft court granted bail to several of Mrs. Arroyo’s co-accused in the same case.

A House Resolution supported the petition for “house arrest” of Mrs. Arroyo. It was endorsed no less by the ruling majority from President Aquino’s Liberal Party (LP) members at the 16th Congress headed by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. Officially transmitted to Malacañang Palace almost two years ago, the House Resolution has gathered dust at the Office of the President.

On Oct. 2 this year, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) reminded the Philippine government on its commitment to protect human rights. The UNWGAD issued the reminder in its 10-page decision declaring the continued detention of the former president and now Pampanga congresswoman as arbitrary and illegal.

The UN body issued the declaration following a complaint filed for Mrs. Arroyo by celebrated international human rights lawyer Amal Alamudin-Clooney, wife of Hollywood superstar George Clooney.

 For Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., they would be spending Christmas day with their respective families for the second time in a row still detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City. Accused also of plunder in the use of their “pork-barrel” funds, lawyers of the two senators have likewise sought the intervention of the SC on their bail petitions that have dragged on for more than a year and a half.

The two opposition senators could only draw hope from Senate minority leader Juan Ponce-Enrile who was earlier released from “hospital detention” at the nearby PNP General Hospital inside Camp Crame. The SC also ruled in favor of Enrile’s bail petition. Likewise charged with plunder on alleged misuse of his “pork-barrel” funds, Enrile was granted temporary liberty through acts of the highest court of the land.

Unlike Mrs. Arroyo, several hundred inmates at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City and other state penal institutions will still languish in jails this Christmas even if they have already been recommended for executive clemency.

Many of these inmates should have been released several Christmases ago. This is because their recommended executive clemency has also gathered dust somewhere in Malacañang. Their names have been submitted by the Board of Pardon and Parole – as endorsed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) – to the Office of the President.

Before it reaches the desk of President Aquino, the list of those recommended for executive clemency must be vetted by the Office of the Executive Secretary, headed by Paquito Ochoa. The office of the “little President” screens those who will be granted executive clemency.

Executive clemency is a power given to the President to pardon any prisoner under Article VII, Section 19 of the Constitution. It pertains to reprieve, absolute or conditional pardon – with or without parole conditions – and commutation of sentence. On the other hand, parole is the conditional release of a prisoner from a correctional institution after having served the minimum of his sentence.

As of last count, a total of 473 inmates have been recommended in several batches by the BPP for the grant of executive clemency and endorsed by the DOJ to Malacañang. The last batch of 48 inmates was transmitted to the Palace last month. As part of the vetting process, the names of the inmates recommended for presidential pardon are published in a national daily like The STAR to inform the public, especially families of victims of these inmates to pose objection, if any.

 In the spirit of Christmas, it has been a tradition for Malacañang to release the approved list of inmates granted executive clemency en masse.

This practice has been carried on by predecessors of President Aquino, including his late mother former President Corazon Aquino who also granted executive clemency in the observance of Holy Week. P-Noy reportedly wanted to grant clemency to qualified inmates during the visit of Pope Francis in the country last January as a “gift” to the pontiff. The BuCor/BPP and DOJ submitted a list, but Pope Francis left with none of them released.

To celebrate a real merry Christmas, let me share this biblical passage (Luke 2:4-5,6v-7,8b-14): “The birth of the Savior, the greatest event in mankind is announced by angels to the shepherds, the ‘poorest of the poor.’ The ‘Three kings’ of the East, symbolize the Savior’s coming for all mankind. Our hearts should be filled with the divine ‘Joy’ of the Christ-Child. He is born in our hearts and homes.”