Noynoy Aquino thinks prosecuting former Philippine President Gloria Arroyo is a popularity contest

By -
According to an Inquirer.net report it seems Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III sees public opinion and "support" as key to a successful prosecution of his predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA)...
President Benigno Aquino III on Saturday night rallied the public behind his administration’s effort to prosecute former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for alleged electoral sabotage, while promising to accord her due process.

[...]

“This is just the start of the process. And it is very good to know that even from the start, even while I was outside the country, you are all behind me, especially on this issue,” he said.

“I know that I am not alone. As I think about your welfare, you continue to give me strength.”

But then the process of criminal prosecution is not one that is driven by a popular outcome. It proceeds on the basis of a rigorous examination of facts and an intelligent tying of these together into a logical conclusion.

Perhaps we can refresh the President's memory with this brief introduction on criminal procedure:
Criminal procedures are safeguards against the indiscriminate application of criminal laws and the wanton treatment of suspected criminals. Specifically, they are designed to enforce the constitutional rights of criminal suspects and defendants, beginning with initial police contact and continuing through arrest, investigation, trial, sentencing, and appeals.

Note that rule of that which is popular has no place in such a procedure.

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 20, 2011 at 4:07 PM

    It is not surprising that a president elected thru popularity contest will apply the same principle in the justice system. That's his own brand of rule of law and due process.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular this week

Duterte BPI bank scandal a trap set for Trillanes?

By -
Image
There are now papers floating around that the BPI account in Julia Vargas has a running balance of around Php22,000xx from March 2015 to March 2016. It's peanuts, and Trillanes makes a big fuzz about it? Sonamagan, even call center agents would have this kind of bank accounts; definitely does not show a corrupt DU30. And then, Trillanes talks of 42 real estate properties, but mostly owned by the children of DU30. Yet, the first one that media checks is a unit in P Guevarra, which is only valued at 2.3 million. Even ordinary employees could buy such unit. That could hardly buy just the main door, an imported antique, in the house of Binay, which has been valued at 15 million, yes just the freaking door by itself. What is this, they are again using trial by publicity, which they effectively used on CJ Corona whom they accused him of having 80 properties. In the end, it comes out Corona had only four properties, three of which was purchased for investment purposes only. I don'...
Read more

Day 2: Senate hearing backfires against a rattled Senator Leila de Lima!

By -
Image
Just watched Day 2 of Senate hearing. Tables were turned once again on De Lima, without any effort it seems from the PNP or Duterte's senate allies. This must really be karma at work, or Duterte's magic is really strong. De Lima opened the session by saying she had asked ABS-CBN, Inquirer, and GMA 7 to submit their "kill list" databases and methodology for compiling the lists. However, only GMA 7 submitted. Strange. If those lists were being prepared properly, shouldn't these media groups have their databases and methodology on hand at any time? Or were those lists haphazardly done? Sandra Cam showed up in the middle of the hearing and sat directly behind De Lima. But Cam disappeared after a while, so viewers were not treated to scratching and hair-pulling. A group of women wearing dark glasses, masks, and headscarfs sat in a row on one area–I don't know why De Lima made them dress like jihadist terrorists, but they were her witnesses. (No offense mean...
Read more

Over 100M-peso cost of #DongYanWedding shouldered by GMA Network as publicity investment!

By -
Image
I was correct with my gut feelings. My friendly butiki, who listens to everything inside the executive offices of GMA7, confirmed that it was the network that paid for everything (repeat, everything) in the so called 'royal wedding'. It was over Php100m on the wedding day alone, not including other expenses in the pre-nuptial activities. This is an eye-popping amount if it is just a wedding expense (as I am one of those who think that a 20m wedding is already stupid and insensitive in a Third World setting, even if one could afford a 500m one). Over 100m, however, is a justifiable amount, even cheap vis-a-vis the ROI, if it is accounted as marketing and advertising expense of a large corporation that regularly spends much more anyway in their ads and promos. If the network has been able to project that their signature stars are bigger than those from competition, then they would have been able to deliver the message that GMA7 is the bigger kid in the block (don't get me...
Read more

Huge achievements crammed within Duterte's first 117 days goes UNREPORTED

By -
Image
POST FACT. POST TRUTH Wait a minute.... Did you know that we have a leader who .... ... Has visited 14 military camps in just a month, including installations that no sitting president has ever laid eyes before. He also visited military hospitals and has invited wounded soldiers for a dinner get together in Malacanang. He was also able to conduct an actual command conference in Basilan. ... ...Has initiated peace talks with the left with the hope on ending a long standing armed struggle. Established goodwill by freeing prominent leftists leaders. Also pursuing peace talks with muslim secessionists. ...Has managed to negotiate for the release of foreigners held hostage by armed bandits in the south. ... Has handled a terrorist crisis well (Davao bombing) managing to immediately restore normalcy, personally visiting the dead and comforting the injured, and enabled the authorities to immediately track down the perpetrators.  After which, he also managed to direct an a...
Read more