MANILA, Philippines - A spokesman for Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo slammed yesterday President Aquino for making fun of her life-threatening condition.
Lawyer Raul Lambino was reacting to the President’s joke before members of the Filipino community during a state visit in Auckland, New Zealand.
Aquino supposedly said, “Our countrymen who are corrupt in the Philippines have luxurious, expensive and fast cars. But if they want to escape (prosecution), they use a wheelchair.”
The President said he just got the joke in a text message.
Lambino said Aquino was obviously referring to an incident at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in November 2011 when Arroyo, in a wheelchair, was prevented from leaving for Hong Kong to seek medical treatment.
There was no hold departure order (HDO) issued against the former President, as there were no cases yet filed against her.
The only basis by which she was barred from leaving was a watch-list order issued by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, which is not equivalent to an HDO. Under Philippine laws, the right to travel is almost absolute, and only an HDO can prevent a person from going abroad.
“Making fun of the ailment of person, a very serious one at that, is cruel,” Lambino said.
“It has now become easy for him to tell those kind of jokes. It’s unpresidential to be cracking those jokes,” he added.
As this developed, Malacañang defended yesterday Aquino’s allusions to Arroyo, saying the blame should be on the guy who created the wheelchair joke. “It was not the President who crafted that joke,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.
“First, let’s not take ourselves too seriously. And again, at the end of the day, it was a joke,” she told Palace reporters.
Arroyo is currently confined at the intensive care unit of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City due to ischemia of the heart, apparently a complication of her neck ailment.
The former leader was arrested shortly after the 2011 incident on charges of electoral sabotage.
She was detained at the VMMC for a year and was eventually ordered released by the Pasay regional trial court, which granted her bail.
She was, however, re-arrested and detained at the VMMC earlier this month, this time on plunder charges. Months ago Arroyo underwent three surgeries to relieve pressure on her neck. The titanium implants have dislocated and have yet to be corrected in another operation. Her doctors said she is at high risk of “sudden death” and insisted that any corrective surgery must be done abroad.
Arroyo is seeking re-election for the second district of her home province, Pampanga. (From Philstar.com)