On jailing Gloria and moving on

Let's just move on and let bygones be bygones.

In another world and another time this is an admirable adage to live by - but not in the Philippine politics  in 2011.

"Let's move on" was the standard triumphant by-word among Arroyo allies after each successful effort at thwarting an impeachment attempt against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

You heard it from bishops and politicians.

"Let's move on," said former presidential son Dato Arroyo more recently after the Corona Supreme Court ruled against the constitutionality of the Philippine Truth Commission of 2010.

Tell the skeptical public to move on now, and at least 70 of Filipinos will take it as a cruel joke that is not funny at all. There is defiance  in the air - simply forgetting the sins of the Gloria Arroyo regime without justice  is unthinkable.

Arroyo's lawyer, Raul Lambino, complains that the Aquino administration is obsessed with bringing former president to jail, citing the series of anti-GMA exposés that he claims Malacañang is orchestrating.

Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte has this to say in reply to Lambino: “If we had wanted to jail your client, if we were only after revenge, we should have done so earlier. We could have filed trumped-up charges for PR. The point is, Arroyo is not our objective but the ends of justice."

Well said. Paraphrased, it says if our president now has the mind as wicked and ruthless as Marcos' or Arroyo's, add a Justice Secretary like Raul Gonzales and a military chief like Hermogenes Esperon, GMA would be in jail in no time.

What appears lost to Lambino et. al. is that the obsession to see Gloria Arroyo in jail has gone viral and P-Noy and company might just be wholeheartedly obliging.

Like it or not - just or not just - Gloria is now a convict in the eyes of the people and they like P-Noy and company to speed up her going through the formalities of mug shots and fingerprinting.

This is not a result of just enough mud thrown at the former president and some stick. The perception is that Gloria heaped dirt upon dirt upon herself over years - from Hello Garci scandal, fertilizer fund scam, NBN-ZTE scam, and so on. Recent mess are recently being uncovered like the PCSO fund scam, helicopter and rubber boat purchases and 2007 elections cheating.

Casual browsing of online forums will show that the Filipinos are growing impatient that Gloria is still as free as a bird flying and roaming around. Her sins are just too numerous to ignore or forgive. 

Many paper trails were designed to stop short of Gloria's doorsteps to ensure that only the JocJocs, the Lorenzos and the Uriartes of this world would suffer in her behalf.  So the Aquino administration is put to task knowing that failure to pin down the former president  shall add to people's exasperation and shall take a toll on P-Noy's credibility.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima now mulls putting Gloria in the immigration watch list. We like to see of a hold departure order sooner than later, considering that Gloria is now a respondent in at least 2 plunder cases. And with the reappearance of Lintang Bedol now singing an anti-GMA tune and Zaldy Ampatuan's apparent change of heart, more cases are likely to be filed.

Given that the P-Noy administration is not in the habit of pressing charges unless they would stand in court, the chance for Gloria to credibly cry persecution is nil. The Aquino legal team is extra careful. After all, this was the former ruler who was strong enough to rob the Filipino of its soul.

Our take is that the moment Malacañang starts suing Gloria, it shall go for the jugular and aim at her immediate incarceration.

This is the much awaited, ultimate catharsis for a wronged people - before moving on.