Press Statement
July 21, 2011
The past two weeks have given us a blitz of expose’s from different personalities who may have knowledge of the fraud and corruption the during the Arroyo regime. As an organization that fought the much-despised Arroyo government, Bayan has consistently called for making Gloria Macapagal Arroyo accountable for all her crimes including gross human rights violations.
The Aquino government has so far excelled in the public relations aspect of its so-called “fight” with the past regime. However, despite the fireworks, no real cases have been filed by the Aquino government. The charges of plunder and human rights violations that Arroyo is facing have all come from groups and personalities outside the Aquino administration.
The current government will have to do more than PR campaign if it seriously wants to put Arroyo in jail. It will have to start filing cases, initiating investigations and putting pressure on Arroyo and her cohorts, from hold departure orders to imposing a freeze on their ill-gotten assets. The longer it takes to file the actual cases, the more the whole thing will be vulnerable to compromises and maneuvers by the different factions of the ruling elite.
One difference between Arroyo and Aquino is that Arroyo was able to jail her predecessor during her first 100 days. Aquino has been in power for more than a year and is still waging a PR war against his predecessor who continues to roam free.
Meanwhile, past crimes and the efforts to go after Arroyo should not be used as a convenient scapegoat for the own failures of the Aquino government. It is almost predictable that during his upcoming SONA, Aquino will again embark on a tirade against the past administration, but will stop short of taking responsibility for his own failures. It is almost certain that Aquino will proclaim how different he is from the past president. Such claims of course are hollow insofar as the economy, foreign relations, human rights and governance are concerned. Aquino merely continued many of Arroyo’s policies in these fields.
Indeed, the tags “State of No Accomplishment”, “State of Non-Achievement” and “State of No Accountability”, somehow hold true for the current regime.
In the upcoming SONA, we call on the people to relentlessly pursue the accountability of Arroyo and her cohorts, even as we also hold accountable the Aquino government for its own failures and anti-people policies. ###
