Reactions sa absolute pardon kay Erap

Narito ang reaksyon ng iba’t ibang grupo at indibidwal–lalo na yung mga nanguna at nakiisa sa People Power 2–sa executive clemency na iginawad ni Gloria Macapagal Arroyo kay Joseph Estrada:

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan:

GMA’s pardon of Erap is part of a cover-up most foul. In the immediate, Malacanang hopes to divert the public’s attention from the latest corruption and bribery scandals using this hasty and unjust pardon. The more sinister objective is to draw Estrada and his followers away from the Oust GMA Movement, entice Estrada to instead utilize the electoral arena to rebuild his political and economic clout and meanwhile allow the Arroyo regime to weather its latest crisis.

Akbayan:

She treats justice like a mere transaction among thieves. Who else but the most incorrigible of thieves who would not hesitate to do a shameless act like this? This mockery of justice is unpardonable… This act normalizes corruption, sending a wrong message to the youth and other public officials… Who else is she willing to forgive? The Marcoses?”

Black & White Movement

Today will be marked as a miserable day in our nation’s history. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s pardon of former president Joseph Estrada, granted without need of a public admission of guilt, is a mockery of justice and an insult to all Filipinos. It is a reflection of the culture of transactional politics that has characterized GMA’s regime, which has brought our country to a state of moral bankruptcy.

Kabataan Party:

Such developments only show how Mrs. Arroyo continues to betray the youth and the ideals and principles of the people’s uprising that catapulted her to power.

President Corazon C. Aquino

I am happy for former president Joseph Ejercito Estrada and his family. I pray that as a free man, former president Estrada will harness the lessons he had learned from the sufferings he had endured and continue to serve our less fortunate brothers and sisters.

Anakbayan:

Anakbayan has reason to believe that, like all other diversionary tactics being perpetrated by Malacanang, Estrada’s pardon is not for ‘reconcilition’ and humanitarian purposes but still for the survival of Arroyo’s beleaguered administration.

CBCP President Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo

The pardoning president has spoken; the case ends there. But where is “restorative justice?” Where is the justice capable of restoring harmony in social relations disrupted by the criminal act committed (cf. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, No. 403)

We appeal for the many prisoners who may also deserve the same clemency for the sake of their poor families. A president pardoning a convicted president may have bigger implications than meet our eyes now. And so reflection must continue, but this time with civil society. May it bear the desired fruit of unity and reconciliation. I enjoin all the faithful to pray that our country will be guided along the path that is “maka-tao, maka-bayan at maka-Dios.”

Tinig.com

Matagal nang itinuro sa atin na “ang magnanakaw ay galit sa kapwa magnanakaw.” Ngunit sa pagkakataong ito, ang kriminal ay nagpalaya ng isang kapwa kriminal. Nakapagpasya marahil kapwa na sa halip na patuloy na magsumbatan hinggil sa kung sino ang tunay na mandarambong ay maghati na lamang sa natitira pang madarambong.