Palace: Aquino not cruel with jail reunion comment

President Benigno Aquino III. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III was not being cruel when he told an audience of overseas Filipinos in Australia that he wanted to see former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona reunited in a prison cell, according to a Palace mouthpiece.

“There’s no cruelty there. Obviously, the rights of these people are being afforded to them. They are being made to answer the charges against them in the proper forum. So how can that be cruelty? How can observing due process be tagged as cruelty?” said deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte.

Arroyo, who is suffering from a chronic cervical spine ailment, is under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City on a charge of plunder.

Corona, who was impeached by the House of Representatives and removed from office by the Senate for nondisclosure of his assets in violation of the Constitution, is facing tax-evasion charges in the Department of Justice.

Aquino’s prediction

On the final day of his three-day visit to Australia on Friday, Mr. Aquino predicted that Corona may soon be joining Arroyo in jail.

Mr. Aquino’s allies in the House voted to impeach Corona in December 2011, paving the way for his impeachment trial in the Senate which found him guilty. The President had, among other charges, questioned the supposed “midnight appointment” of Corona by Arroyo.

Last Thursday, Corona appeared at the DOJ to file his counteraffidavit to charges that he had evaded paying P120.5 million in taxes.

Arroyo is set to be arraigned on plunder charges on Monday at the Sandiganbayan.

In her defense of the President, Valte said Mr. Aquino was speaking “in the realm of possibilities” when he spoke of Arroyo and Corona being reunited in jail.

“What the President was saying was that it’s possible. Of course we understand the context of that, given that they’ve been ordered to appear before the courts and the DOJ so that their liability could be determined. It’s not as if it has already happened,” she said.