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The Aquino Regime Must Immediately Take Arroyo to Account

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The Aquino Regime Must Immediately Take Arroyo to Account Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas ANG Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo English Edition Vol. XLII No. 9 May 7, 2011 www.philippinerevolution.net Editorial The Aquino regime must immediately take Arroyo to account he Filipino people were gladdened at the res- the past regime involved in various anomalies. ignation of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez They would also like to see the legal process un- Ton May 6. With Gutierrez's resignation, a fold against Arroyo and her military and security huge obstacle has been removed from filing char- officials for their responsibility for various fascist ges against Gloria Arroyo and her partners in crrimes. crime. Now, demands have become more urgent The people are thus deeply disappointed with to hold Arroyo accountable at the soonest possi- Benigno Aquino III for his failure to undertake ble time for plunder and stealing from the public even a single step to hold Arroyo and her cohorts coffers as well as for more than a thousand responsible for plunder and fascist crimes. They counts of extrajudicial killing and other crimes seethe in anger seeing Arroyo flaunting her pow- against humanity. er despite the grave criminal cases she should be Gutierrez's resignation came amid facing. widespread calls from the people to Aquino courted the people's support dur- oust her as Ombudsman. Her resig- ing his electoral campaign last year by con- nation has preempted the Senate's tinuously lambasting Arroyo and the major constitution as an impeachment cases of corruption under the previous re- court that will try her on the char- gime. Now he is courting their ire in ges that have been filed against her. his failure to begin the process of The people have been angered no haling Arroyo to court even after end with Gutierrez's use of her power months in power. This only buttress- to block cases against Gloria Arroyo who es the belief that Aquino and Arroyo appointed her to her position. The Of- had struck a deal during the elections. fice of the Ombudsman is the reac- With so many investigations conducted tionary government's agency in the previous years, enough in- tasked with investigating and fil- formation has been dis- ing charges against government closed to nail Arroyo for officials involved in corruption and various criminal casers. abuse of power. Contrary to this, Thus, many deem Aquino's however, Gutierrez turned a blind formation of a Truth Com- eye to her friend Arroyo's direct in- mission in his first days volvement in various cases of cor- in Malacañang ostensibly ruption such as the NBN-ZTE deal, to investigate Arroyo's cas- the Fertlizer Fund scam and many es as a huge waste of government resour- others. ces. Malacañang eventually failed to justify the Gutierrez's resignation as Ombudsman fires up rationale behind the Truth Commission's forma- the Filipino people's desire to see the legal proc- tion in the face of questions raised against it be- ess unfold immediately against Gloria Arroyo, her fore the Supreme Court. husband Mike, her sons and other key officials of Aquino dilly-dallied in the face of calls to Ka Soly: Woman, This issue’s Arroyo charged 13 firearms seized mother, revolutionary with plunder PAGE 2 in Bukidnon PAGE 5 highlights... PAGE 10 oust Gutierrez. He began to take heed of, and ride, on the public's clamor on- Arroyo charged with plunder ly in April when moves to remove Guti- errez began taking off within and out- ormer Pres, Gloria Arroyo is set to face several cases side Congress. He suddenly took on the Fof plunder and violations of human rights. issue in an attempt to recover lost Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez's unexpected resig- ground after the latest surveys re- nation has set the stage for this scenario. Gutierrez's res- vealed a nosedive in his popularity rat- ignation took effect May 6, or three days befire the Sen- ings. ate was set to try her on impeachment charges. Gutierrez's resignation now When she announced her resignatrion, Gutierrez still strengthens the pressure on the Aqui- stubbornly denied being Arrioyo's protector. This is de- no regime to file cases against Arroyo spite being known to be close to the former president's and her ilk and put them on trial. The family. She sat on cases involving her boss and the lat- Aquino regime can no longer justify ter's most zealous minions. On the other hand, she bru- any delay in taking the necessary steps tally went after the Arroyo regime's political enemies. in this regard, The Filipino people must With her resignation, there is one less obstacle in ac- step up their demands to hold Arroyo celerating the criminal proceedings against Arroyo. In accountable in order to preempt any this regard, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said that deals that may be struck and to push they would pursue the plunder case they had earlier filed the process of attaining justice. against Arroyo for her involvement in the $329-million Without the people's struggle NBN-ZTE project. Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima has against corruption, the various camps promised to revive the case and form a panel for this un- within the ruling classes will merely der her department. take turns in abusing political power in Bayan Muna filed the case against Arroyo on July 1, order to commit plunder and amass 2010, a day after she stepped down from power. The DOJ wealth. History has proven that if the endorsed the case to the Truth Commission formed by people do not take action, justice can Aquino. The case was relegated to the backburner when never br attained from those who hold the Supreme Court declared the Truth Commission un- the reins of power in the reactionary constitutional. state. Former Solicitor General Frank Chavez had earlier In the final analysis, lasting justice filed plunder charges against Arroyo for her illegal use of can only be attained with ending the funds from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration ruling reactionary system that engen- (OWWA). Also charged were former OWWA administrator ders corruption and fascism and allows Virgilio Angelo, former Health Secretary Francisco Duque them to fester. True justice can only be II and former Executive Secretary and Foreign Affairs attained with the overthrow of the bu- Secretary Alberto Romulo. reaucrat capitalists through revolu- Chavez said Arroyo illegally transferred OWWA funds tionary struggle and the establishment to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Phil- of a new ruling system of people's de- Health). She used `554 million in OWWA funds to pur- mocracy.~ chase PhilHealth cards from March 2003 to February 2004 for distribution during her ANG reelection campaign. Romulo al- Contents so illegally used `5 million from Editorial: Arroyo must be taken to OWWA to support US Pres. Ge- Vol. XLII No. 9 May 7, 2011 account 1 orge W. Bush's terrorist war in Ang Bayan is published in Pilipino, Arroyo charged with plunder 2 Bisaya, Iloko, Hiligaynon, Waray and CHR slammed for clearing AFP 3 Iraq and $293,500 to defray ex- English editions. Dispersal at Laperal Compound 3 penses of the Philippine mission It is available for downloading at Calamity, hunger in Panay 4 in Kuwait and buy cars for Phil- the Philippine Revolution Web Central 13 firearms seized in Bukidnon 5 ippine embassies in Lebanon, located at: 6 soldiers killed in Rizal 5 www.philippinerevolution.net POWs in Cotabato 6 Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt Ang Bayan welcomes contributions Killing, militarization in Leyte 6 and Iran. in the form of articles and news. Readers are likewise enjoined to send Scout Ranger in Negros killed 7 Sen. Panfilo Lacson is also in their comments and suggestions for NDFP 38th anniversary 8 reportedly preparing a corrup- the betterment of our publication. You Cordillera Day 9 tion case against Arroyo. So is can reach us by email at: Ka Soly, revolutionary martyr 10 [email protected] News 12 Danilo Lihay-lihay, a private cit- izen from Iloilo, said Secretary Ang Bayan is published fortnightly by the Central Committee de Lima. Lihay-lihay's charges of the Communist Party of the Philippines stem from Arroyo's anomalous 2 ANG BAYAN May 7, 2011 sale of the Iloilo Airport's equipment in 2007. budsman Evelyn Baliton claiming that Arroyo's Despite positive indications that Arroyo will transfer of OWWA funds was legal and free of ir- finally be nailed for plunder and her other regularities. Added to this is Benigno Aquino crimes against the people, there are other ob- III's reluctance to prosecute the former president. stacles that must now be hurdled by anticorrup- On May 1, he admitted that filing plunder charges tion crusaders. against Arroyo is not among his regime's priori- The Office of the Ombudsman is already ma- ties and said he was more focused on finding a neuvering to clear Arroyo, with Assistant Om- new Ombudsman. ~ CHR slammed Violent demolition for clearing military at Laperal Compound he Confederation of Unity for the Rec- he Commission on Human Rights (CHR) was lam- Tognition and Advancement of Govern- basted for clearing the military in the abduction ment Employees (COURAGE) condemned Tand torture of Filipino-American activist Melissa the violent demolition at Laperal Com- Roxas and her two companions. pound in Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City on CHR Chairperson Loreta Ann "Etta" Rosales April 29. cleared elements of the Philippine Army 7th Infantry More than 1,000 police forces, ele- Division and even maliciously insinuated that the ments from the Special Weapons and Tac- New People's Army (NPA) was behind Roxas' abduc- tics unit, goons, personnel from the Mate- tion and torture.
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