Unless she will testify against Gloria, impeachment complainant tells Aquino to charge Merci

Press statement
April 30, 2011
 

Impeachment complainant Pagbabago! People’s Movement for Change today said that unless resigned Merceditas Gutierrez will turn state witness against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, cases should be filed as soon as possible against the ex-Ombudsman.
 

The group dared President Benigno Aquino III to disclose what transpired in his conversation with Gutierrez as it expressed concerns that political compromises unfavorable to the people may have been made in the sudden resignation of the controversial official.

“To immediately douse speculations, Malacañang must file administrative and criminal cases against Gutierrez as soon as possible using the tons of strong evidence compiled by the complainants and prosecutors for the aborted impeachment trial. The only acceptable deal for the people not to pursue the cases against Gutierrez at this point is she testifying against her former boss,” Pagbabago! spokeserson Fr. Joe Dizon said.

Pagbabago! noted that Aquino seems to imply that Gutierrez is already off the hook by saying that the government must prioritize who it will go after to due to the limited time that his administration has. The President said that in terms of prioritization, Gutierrez does not rank as high as her principals in terms of the government’s efforts to exact accountability and justice. “But what do the people get in return?” asked Dizon.

“Of course, the ultimate target of the people’s campaign to have Gutierrez removed from the Office of the Ombudsman is Arroyo. But relegating the role of Gutierrez as secondary or peripheral is a mistake because she is part of the reason why the regime of impunity existed during the Arroyo administration,” Dizon said.

The Pagbabago leader added that the evidence that the former Ombudsman consciously and systematically neglected the cases against Arroyo and her officials are very strong. “These pieces of evidence should not go to waste, not only because of the time and resources that we spent to gather them but for true justice to prevail”, said Dizon. (End)