Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the 14th president of the Philippines and the second woman to have achieved this position. Appointed after the EDSA Revolution of 2001, she served as president of the Philippines for a total of 10 years. During her terms of presidency, she was able to reach several achievements that highlighted her presidential career. A couple of these achievements were The “Strong Republic” Nautical Highway, which is a “set of roads and ports that connect the three primary regions of the Philippines” (WikiPilipinas, Strong Republic Nautical Highway, para. 1) and her success in the creation of a million jobs for the Filipinos (Espina, 2010). Today, she is elected Pampanga Representative after turning over her presidency to our current president, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III (Calonzo, 2010).
During her 10-term presidency, several controversies and allegations arose which questioned Mrs. Arroyo integrity. Controversies such as the “Hello, Garci” scandal in 2005, which accused her of changing the outcome of the 2004 presidential elections, and the P728-million fertilizer fund scam where she was accused of using the said money originally meant to be distributed to poor farmers to fund her electoral campaign (Dedace & Sisante, 2010) continue to haunt her to this day. Added to the accusations of electoral sabotage and plunder, she was diagnosed with a bone disease called hypoparathyroidism which is an “endocrine disorder in which the parathyroid glands in the neck do not produce enough parathyroid hormones or PTH (Hypoparathyroidism, para. 1). In effect, GMA and her party decided that it would be best for her to be treated overseas. The Supreme Court allowed the fruition of this move, when a brave woman stood to fight for justice. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima fought to persuade the court of finalizing their impending decision. To cut things short, she was responsible for plundering GMA’s plans to fly overseas. Even the current president has agreed with de Lima, saying that if GMA needed further medical examinations, it would be advised to bring the experts to her than for her to come to them (Legaspi, 2011). This unanimous decision is a very wise one, cancelling any possibilities of several economic problems that may occur with the pardoning of her leave.
Before we celebrate the final decision of not allowing GMA to leave the country, let us first examine what would have happened if de Lima didn’t choose to meddle in the situation and the Supreme Court chose to stand firm in their decision. First of all, the continuous, and not to mention annoying, issues about GMA’s faltering welfare will finally end. During the peak of Gloria’s migration issues, so many other ailments seemed to have risen with her current medical status. Rumors of anorexia and the never-ending worsening of her health (Arroyo battles ‘anorexia’ as well as other diseases, 2011) continuously flowed in the media to show evidence of her need to immediately leave the country. The predicament worsened to the point of the president questioning the honesty and integrity of GMA’s doctors (Legaspi, 2011). If the Supreme Court pardoned her pleas for foreign medical help, issues of her medical needs, whether true or false, will finally be resolved. So much time has been put into this, that other priorities were forgotten. There are more pressing matters that are much more important than to decide on letting a sick woman leave the country.
Added to this, GMA’s medical status would have improved, or even resolved, at a faster rate if she were granted permission to leave the country. Experts with more knowledge and experience are evident in other countries and advanced equipment that could help speed up her recovery is available overseas. If GMA were to leave the country and be medically treated overseas, there is a bigger possibility of her immediate return to the Philippines, granted that no complications occur in her health during her absence. This would mean that investigations of her alleged corruptions would continue smoothly and a final ultimatum can be made without taking too much time.
However, if GMA were to leave the country, we would be pardoning an indicted criminal to leave the jurisdiction of our country. A criminal is a criminal no matter what his or her social status may be. There should be no bias or special treatment to those who are high in authority. If she were to be given permission to leave the country, our justice system would show impartiality. This, in turn, will ultimately send a bad image of our country to the world, showing vulnerability and softness in our justice system. Our reputation as a nation will be greatly affected, while other countries may take advantage of our natural camaraderie.
The most obvious, yet most devastating result of allowing Gloria to leave the country is the huge possibility of political asylum. Political asylum is “the right to seek shelter somewhere if one has reasonable fear of persecution” (What is Political Asylum?, para. 1). Once Gloria steps into another country, she will no longer be in our jurisdiction and is free to apply for political asylum. If she is able to support her application with credible facts, there could be a chance of its approval. In the situation that the application is passed, GMA will enjoy the citizenship of the country where she filed for political asylum and will escape the charges pressed upon her in the Philippines. In short, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s valiant act of opposition from the Supreme Court has saved our country from another staging of a politician who got away.
From this, you can obviously see that the Justice Secretary was on the right track all along. Clearly, the cons outweigh the pros. Because of her wise decision to oppose the Supreme Court, she has succeeded in choosing the best decision that would protect both the nation’s reputation, and its welfare. In the end of all the controversies, the indicted congresswoman is clarified to be under hospital arrest on November 18, 2011 (GMA UNDER HOSPITAL ARREST, para. 2). It is also reported that her health has improved and has recovered greatly during her arrest (Grande, 2011). In conclusion, proven by the outcome of her stay under hospital arrest, she did not need to result to leaving the country for health improvements. With the amount of money she holds, she can get all the help she needs here. This only shows that she may have ulterior motives all along. Whatever her true intentions were, the Philippine justice system has made the right decision of not allowing any of it into fruition.
REFERENCES
Arroyo battles 'anorexia' as well as other diseases, court cases - GMA News Online - The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere . (2011, November 22). GMANetwork.com - Online home of the Kapuso Network. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/239231/news/nation/arroyo-battles-anorexia-as-well-as-other-diseases-court-cases
Calonzo, D. (2010, June 30). Arroyo takes oath of office as Pampanga rep - GMA News Online - The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere . GMANetwork.com - Online home of the Kapuso Network. Retrieved December 4, 2011, from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/194848/news/nation/arroyo-takes-oath-of-office-as-pampanga-rep
Dedace, S., & Sisante, J. (2010, June 29). Davide chosen to lead investigation vs Arroyo - GMA News Online - The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere . GMANetwork.com - Online home of the Kapuso Network. Retrieved December 4, 2011, from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/194733/news/nation/davide-chosen-to-lead-investigation-vs-arroyo
Espina, B. (2010, August 9). Achievements of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Philippine Online Chronicles. Retrieved December 4, 2011, from www.thepoc.net/blogwatch-features/9287.html
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 4, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Macapagal-Arroyo
Grande, G. (2011, November 24). Arroyo's condition improving: PNP report. ABS-CBN News. Retrieved December 7, 2011, from http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/11/24/11/arroyos-condition-improving-pnp-report
Legaspi, A. (2011, November 9). Aquino offers to bring in doctors for Gloria Arroyo - GMA News Online - The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere. GMANetwork.com - Online home of the Kapuso Network. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/237941/news/nation/aquino-offers-to-bring-in-doctors-for-gloria-arroyo
Legaspi, A. (2011, November 25). PNoy thanks Arroyo doctors 'for telling the truth' - GMA News Online - The Go-To Site for Filipinos Everywhere. GMANetwork.com - Online home of the Kapuso Network. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/239638/news/nation/pnoy-thanks-arroyo-doctors-for-telling-the-truth
MRS GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO UNDER HOSPITAL ARREST . (n.d.). Breaking News, Current Events, Latest News and World Events at allvoices.com. Retrieved December 7, 2011, from http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/10903228-mrs-gloria-macapagal-arroyo-under-hospital-arrest
Strong Republic Nautical Highway - WikiPilipinas: The Hip 'n Free Philippine Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Main Page - WikiPilipinas: The Hip 'n Free Philippine Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 4, 2011, from http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Strong_Republic_Naut
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