Philippines: The fight against corruption gathers speed

Manila, 19.01.2012

Bericht aus aktuellem Anlass N° 1/2012

Jules Maaten

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After one year in government, the liberal president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino takes remarkable steps in fulfilling his election campaign promise to fight the widespread corruption in the country. Under massive attention from public and media, the government began the prosecution of Aquino’s prede- cessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, being accused of abuse of power, corruption and betrayal of public trust, and of the Chief Justice whom she had put in place to protect herself and her cronies.

Are the really capable of ridding themselves of corruption and dealing with past abuses of power? The Filipino people are count- ing on the liberal President Benigno Aquino, elected in a landslide victory in 2010. According to a national survey from October 2011, 72% of the population trust President Aquino to be capable of solving the problem of corruption in the country.

Aquino’s predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) was time and again accused of electoral sabotage, corruption and of violating the con- President Benigno Aquino (photo: FNF) stitution. However, being backed by her loyal- In September 2010, after only three month in ists in the Lower House and in the Supreme office, newly elected president Aquino’s very Court, investigations of the accusations did not first Executive Order established the so called take place during her nine year term as presi- “Truth Commission” designed to investigate dent of the Philippines. irregularities by former state officials such as

human rights violations, electoral fraud and www.freiheit.org I 1

cases of corruption. In December 2010, the Justice and the Commission on Elections on Commission was proclaimed unconstitutional alleged massive cheating during the 2007 by the Supreme Court headed by Arroyo loyalist mid-term elections. In consequence, a travel Chief Justice Renato Corona. ban was imposed on the former president.

Prompted by Arroyo, the Supreme Court under Arroyo arrested: The long wait is over Chief Justice Renato Corona issued a so-called Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the From April to September 2011, already six cases government directive that barred Arroyo from of corruption were filed to court against former leaving the country. The Supreme Court order President Gloria Arroyo. One of these was the was followed by an order issued by Justice alleged use of nearly P1.6 billion in fertilizer Secretary de Lima. While seeking to leave the funds to bolster her presidential bid in 2004. country, immigration officials stopped Arroyo Another case dealt with the dubious national and her husband at the airport of Manila. broadband network (NTE) contract signed be- tween the Arroyo government and the Chinese Three days later, on 18 November 2011, Ar- telecommunication company ZTE. Allegations royo was charged with election manipulation claim that this US$ 262 Million contract was by the Election Commission, followed by her overpriced to pay off bribes to government offi- immediate arrest at the St. Luke’s Medical cials. Center in Taguig City. She remains in custody since then. One of the controversial election cases was the alleged manipulation of the 2007 senatorial Many were surprised by the drastic steps the elections. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is accused Aquino administration took against the Su- of personally instructing the governor of a preme Court ruling. Letting Arroyo leave the province in Mindanao to ensure a landslide country seemed a convenient way out of the victory for her senatorial candidates. situation, but De Lima and Aquino would not take the easy way out. Arroyo is now forced to More and more witnesses step up to testify face the numerous allegations against her. against the former President. The former elec- tion supervisor of one of the Mindanao prov- According to the “Social Weather Survey”, inces claims, that massive fraud was committed conducted in December 2011, 69% of the in the 2004 general elections of which Arroyo believe that the legal proceedings of was the principal beneficiary. Two former pro- former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo are vincial election supervisors from another Min- fair, 17% say they are too drastic, while 13% danao province submitted sworn statements find them not drastic enough. that accuse former election chief Benjamin Abalos - a known GMA loyalist - of giving per- sonal order to skew poll results in favor of Ar- Corona: The last hold-out royo’s candidates. The Supreme Court’s issuance of the Tempo- In August 2011, the Ministry of Justice put Ar- rary Restraining Order (TRO), which was proc- royo on the watch list of the Bureau of Immi- essed with uncommon speed and without even gration (BI) which meant that she would be hearing the government’s side of the argu- unable to leave the country. In October, Secre- ment, was the tipping point for President tary of Justice issued another Aquino. He openly criticized Chief Justice Re- watch list order against Arroyo in connection nato Corona for demonstrating his partiality with the joint investigation of the Ministry of to his former boss, President Gloria Arroyo. www.freiheit.org I 2

As early as 1998, when Gloria Arroyo was still It’s all about Freedom, after all Vice President, he already served as her chief- of-staff and spokesperson and later as presi- As the media hype on the impeachment issue dential chief-of-staff after Arroyo became continues, more and more Filipinos become President. A year later, in 2002, she appointed aware of the true background and motives of him as associate of the Supreme Court. He was their former leaders. The speed and serious- Chief Justice, instantly after the May 2010 ness of the events surprised many lawmakers, Presidential elections – the most notorious of legal professionals as well as the general pub- her so-called “midnight appointments”. These lic. It was widely expected that the admini- are unconstitutional because the outgoing stration would prosecute some mid-level offi- President is supposed to leave such important cials for corruption. Instead, the government appointments to her newly elected successor. aimed as high possible. Ultimately, the arrest The Supreme Court however, dominated by Ar- of former President Arroyo and the impeach- royo-appointees, ratified the appointment. ment trial of Renato Corona sent a signal of serious reform that is likely to create a rip- The Liberal Party of pling effect throughout the Philippine bu- the Philippines was at reaucracy. The recent events might spur re- the forefront of the forms in the judiciary branch of the govern- events, and played its ment and the Supreme Court such as the es- cards well. On 12 tablishment of criteria for appointing repre- December the House sentatives of state and judiciary or financial of Representatives transparency for people holding public offices. (Photo : FNF) moved to impeach Corona, led by Liberal Party stalwarts Represen- The Philippine Office of the Friedrich- tative Niel Tupas as lead prosecutor, Represen- Naumann-Foundation for Freedom has been tative (and LP secretary general) Jun Abaya as directly involved by supporting the country’s the impeachment manager and Deputy Speaker leading and most reliable online news organi- Erin Tañada as spokes- zation, Newsbreak in investigating the irregu- person of the prosecu- larities of the Supreme Court and the allegedly tion panel. 188 out of undeserved doctorate degree in civil law that 284 members of the the Chief Justice recently obtained from one House of Representa- of the most prestigious universities in the tives voted for the Philippines. Meanwhile, Newsbreak has re- impeachment of the Erin Tañada vealed, that Corona has accepted financial Chief Justice. (Photo: FNF) amenities for a luxury apartment from a real estate company that faces allegations in front The eight articles of impeachment charges of the Supreme Court. against Corona include public betrayal, abuse of power, corruption and partiality to president To the discomfort of many amongst the ruling Arroyo and her loyalists. Moreover, he is ac- elite of the Philippines, Aquino is consistently cused of the non-disclosure of the statement of enforcing his main campaign promise to pur- assets, liabilities and net worth. The articles of sue those who abused their power for almost impeachment have now been submitted to the a decade. Starting with the impeachment trial Upper House (the Senate), which will serve as against Chief Justice Corona on 16th January, the impeachment court commencing on 16 the next few weeks will show to what extend January 2012. to what extend the country’s legal and politi- cal system copes with this change of revolu- tionary proportions. www.freiheit.org I 3

Jules Maaten works as Country Director Philip- pines for the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation for Freedom.

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