Throwing the kitchen sink at ‘sick’ GMA

BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

Almost everything except the kitchen sink is being thrown against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Her detractors earlier wanted her out of her luxurious bed at theSt. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City, where she was served with a warrant of arrest in connection with the electoral sabotage case filed by the Commission on Elections on Nov. 24.

Her quarters were being tidied up at the city jail including a little bed for her “sickly” body, but then, the administration relented to hospital arrest while they figured out if she was really that sick
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Now they want her seat. An activist lawmaker said GMA should give up her seat at the House of Representatives as she would not be able to use this."Sa daming kasong nakahayin sa kanya ay hindi na siya makakapag-function," Bayan Muna Rep. TeodoroCasiño said.

Casiño said Ms Arroyo would be doing her constituents in Pampanga's 2nd District and her colleagues in the House a favor if she will allow another lawmaker to act as caretaker of her seat.

He however said they can only ask Ms Arroyo to resign, not force her because she has not been convicted of any charge.

He added that the charges filed against Ms Arroyo are all alleged violations committed when she was still the country's president.

“There is a rule that what you did in your previous term could not be used as basis for your expulsion. The House leadership cannot expel her without conviction."
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The former president is also facing six plunder complaints filed before the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman.A report by GMA News, quoting Presidential Political Affairs Adviser Ronald Llamas, said Malacañang is eyeing at filing 20 cases against the former president.

Casiño said with all the charges against Ms Arroyo, she will be incapable of functioning for her constituents in Pampanga."Mae-engross na siya sa pagharap dito sa isang kaso pa lang na pinag-uusapan natin na electoral sabotage."
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House Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada said he would propose that Ang Galing Pinoy Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo be named caretaker of Pampanga’s second district while Ms Arroyo is under arrest.

Tañada said that the House leadership cannot expel the former president prior to her conviction on the charges leveled against her.

“Mikey is the former representative of that district. He is the logical choice for caretaker,” he said. Like his mother, Mikey is a member of the House, representing security guards and tricycle drivers grouped under the party-list organization Ang Galing Pinoy.

Mikey left for the United States before his mother was arrested. The naughty are saying he actually went there to fix bank accounts and possessions of the former First Family. He himself is facing charges for alleged tax evasion.
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Tanada said the filing of an electoral sabotage case against GMA cannot be the basis to expel her. She is presumed innocent until proven guilty or until she pleads guilty to the crime.

House Speaker Sonny Belmonte had thumbed down proposals to force GMA out of her congressional seat saying it was a personal matter on her part if she wanted to resign.

From the looks of it, the former president who had been tagged as “Iron Lady” by Time magazine still projects the willpower to fight for her survival even if no rallies are being held in her behalf. Despite her steely persona, television footages have shown her apparently dismayed and frightened at not being able to leave the country before her arrest warrant was served.
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Except for her immediate family and some close friends, it seems she is alone in her long lonely fight, considering the string of cases lined up against her.

The pundits are talking on TV that after she gets well, she may not be able to endure sitting on her congressional seat while her colleagues and the media train their eyes on her.

Such a dilemma for the once most powerful person in the country. People say it is karma.