Aquino’s wasteful Arroyo ‘obsession’

I really hope President Aquino comes to his senses and sheds off his obsession with Gloria Arroyo. It seems every time he delivers a major speech, whether here or abroad, he mentions her name in a negative light. Mr. Aquino insists on prosecuting Arroyo for so many crimes of corruption despite the fact that the evidence against her are either nonexistent or “weak,” according to a judge.

The incumbent President is trying his hardest spearheading the demolition job on the Arroyo name and the Arroyo administration. This would be all right if he had some solid proof to support his allegations and charges. But then the whole

effort has turned out to be one huge waste of time.

Arroyo has been in detention for most of the last three years even as her health continues to fail. Meanwhile, corruption under the Aquino administration has actually gotten worse with his own Cabinet officials like Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala being linked to the pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by Janet Napoles. Instead of reprimanding Cabinet officials linked to the so-called Napoles scam, Mr. Aquino is wasting his time with his obsession with Arroyo.

The Department of Justice is busy trying to make sense of the conflicting pork barrel lists of Napoles; but Mr. Aquino, who should be pressing the department to resolve these issues, has instead ordered a reopening of the fertilizer funds case against

Arroyo—a case already dismissed by the very Ombudsman he himself appointed.

—GERARDO PABLOR, [email protected]