Friday, October 26, 2007

The horror: Arroyo pardons Erap

October 26, 2007
A waste of time

I was shocked when I passed by a newspaper stand this morning and read the bold headline: Arroyo pardons Estrada. Although a pardon was actually expected, from public-approval-seeking Arroyo, I was at least hoping it wouldn’t take this fast. Or easy. I only read the news article that Erap was seeking pardon at the start of the week.

What ploy are they playing on the Filipino people? It’s like lawyers fighting for the Filipino people were duped into playing the dirty game of politics for 6 long years only to have their victory overturned at the whim of a fickle President. I cannot believe that it would come easily. It’s as if justice, rule of law, forgiveness no longer has meaning for it to be discarded or given away so easily.

For some reason, I find that Arroyo’s move was more to save-face than to sincerely pardon a 70-year old convict. Honestly, it is a means for her to woo the mass and the opposition. For how can a President seeking to be legitimized in terms of her work and public opinion pardon someone she has supposedly legally taken the office from. If she does not at least seek admission of guilt, she is accepting that her legitimacy is questionable—for why take the office from someone who has been wronged and should have been able to complete his term. And how can an ex-President seek pardon from the very person who he does not recognize as President and who he continues to question and fight against? It’s a mockery of sense and logic!

Erap continually labels himself President, and so does his people, as seen in his letter to Arroyo. After the request was publicized, he came out saying he just bowed down to his lawyer’s wisdom, knowing that his chances of getting through with the judicial system is small. His very disrespect to the rule of law and due process, his lack of faith in justice, only proves that he just wants out. Nothing else.

In the letter, his lawyers said that in Erap’s desire to serve the greater good of the Filipinos (paraphrased), he is seeking pardon so that as a free citizen, he can better serve the country. Really. After cordoning off millions for himself, he continually sought favors as a former high official. I do not even think he truly grasped the gravity of his faults. He was, for most of his “incarceration”, held on house arrest in his sprawling Tanay property. His numerous requests are almost too easily approved. It’s frustrating. How can you jog into his ageing mind that he abused the country and should pay for it?

Arroyo’s apparent disregard, nay, disrespect for the rule of law is appalling, disgusting! It frustrates me to see how she can get away with things that are clearly just deceptive maneuvers. She has actually gotten so good at it that it’s frustrating to see how tired Filipinos has just gotten to shaking their heads in disbelief rather than fight against her. It’s tiring to see her blamed for so many things but not pay for it.

How can these people live with themselves? How can they truly believe in what they’re doing? they’ve been very selfish to think that getting away with things cannot affect a multitude of other people? How can they think that they’re doing these things FOR people when truly, they’re the only ones benefiting from it?

What do we get with a President who acts on whim and continually only does things to seek approval? What do we get from the pardon of a convict who has apparently no sense of regret or remorse? We continually live in the muck that these politicians have made out of the Philippines, why do we thrive in it? why do we pretend that things are ok? Why have we become too tired to fight? Have we lost all sense of national pride? right now, it’s so hard to love the Philippines when it can be represented by the so-called leaders of our country who can make a fool out of all of us by their fancy words and play-acting. Truly, the politics of the land has turned into one very long and excruciatingly shameful farce. How do we end it? is there still hope? or have we all been blinded by the muck that our very own complacency created? We are not helpless. We are not hopeless. We just don’t know we can make one more stand together to make things work. we’ve seen previous efforts fall, others have succeeded but now long forgotten. but we can still make another push, another effort to work against those that take us for fools. Please, let’s not give up.

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tweenkies_1106 at 10:35 AM

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