COTABATO CITY, 28 October 2008 — A leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday to order the release from jail of Muslim leader Nur Misuari.
Hatimil Hassan, MNLF interim vice chairman, told the Inquirer by phone that since Arroyo granted pardon to ousted President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, the same should be extended to Misuari and 100 others arrested in connection with the so-called MNLF uprising.
Arroyo pardoned the 70-year-old former movie star on Thursday, just six weeks after the special anti-graft court Sandiganbayan sentenced him to life imprisonment for stealing millions of dollars from the state’s coffers.
Arroyo cited the need for peace and national unity as basis for her act, which critics say was intended to divert attention from corruption allegations being leveled at her in congressional hearings and by the opposition.
Hadji Charlie Apostol, MNLF information officer, said the group’s officials led by Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema were drafting an urgent letter of appeal to the president on the matter.
“Releasing Misuari from jail will contribute to the ongoing peace venture of Malacañang with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. If they pardoned Estrada, why not Misuari too?” Hassan asked.
Apostol said the MNLF believes that a pardon for Misuari would also boost “the spirit of reconciliation and unity, especially in Mindanao.”
Misuari, now 67 years old, is being held under house arrest for rebellion but he has not been sentenced yet.
Apostol said Misuari’s offense was political in nature and he was entitled to political clemency.
“Misuari is now aging,” Apostol added.
Professor Abhoud Syed Mansur-Lingga, director of the Institute for Bangsamoro Studies based in Cotabato, echoed the MNLF’s call. “Like Estrada, Misuari should be released for humanitarian reasons,” Lingga said.
The MNLF said releasing Misuari would also ensure that he could attend the tripartite meeting between the government, the MNLF, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) scheduled for Nov. 6 to 8 in Jeddah.
The meeting is aimed at reviewing the 1996 Peace Agreement between the government and the MNLF.
The MNLF has been complaining that the government failed to fulfill its part, which led to the 2002 uprising of its forces.
Outrage
Arroyo’s decision to pardon her disgraced predecessor despite his conviction for massive graft has come under fire from prosecutors, the press and other groups who are supportive of the Arroyo government’s campaign against grafters.
Special prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, who headed the team that achieved a conviction for Estrada, said they were looking into whether there was a possibility to go to the Supreme Court to question the granting of the pardon. “If we have enough materials (we will file) but for now we don’t have the basis to question the legality of the president’s grant of pardon,” he said.
He criticized the granting of clemency, saying “there was no transparency, no extensive deliberations,” adding that his recommendations against a pardon were ignored.
Lawyer Leonard De Vera, who headed a movement opposing a pardon for Estrada, chided Arroyo, saying the only reconciliation achieved was between the pro-Arroyo and pro-Estrada forces, not within the country as a whole.
De Vera said that there were thousands of poor people in prison who stole less than Estrada but who could not obtain pardons because they lacked political connections.
‘Shameful Capitulation’
The Philippine Daily Inquirer branded the pardon as “shameful capitulation,” remarking that Estrada had never shown remorse or admitted guilt in stealing more than 80 million dollars through insider trading and payoffs from gambling operators.
“What does this say to public officials? That it is now open season for graft and corruption. Or that at the very highest levels of officialdom, one can expect leniency for the most heinous crimes,” the leading mass circulation broadsheet said in its editorial.
“Estrada’s promise not to seek public office does not diminish the gravity of his crime against the Filipino people or prove that he is a changed man. It is only reassuring to a regime that is insecure about its legitimacy and stability,” it said.
The equally widely circulated Philippine Star was also scathing.
“An administration in need of friends has fallen all over itself in its rush to grant pardon to a convicted plunderer,” the paper said in its editorial.
“What are all corrupt public officials thinking? In this country, politics trumps justice any time,” the Star editorial asked.
The influential Makati Business Club, which had earlier called on Arroyo to resign over vote-buying allegations, said in a statement that it was “dismayed” by Estrada’s pardon, “especially the haste with which it was done.”
The move showed the world that the powerful can escape justice in this country, said the group of businessmen based in the Philippine financial district of Makati.
The pardon “may bring some political quietude in the very short term, but it also pulls down the country in the eyes of potential investors. The message they read is that the corrupt in this country are not punished, so the risk reward ratio favors corruption,” it added.
Pamalakaya, a leftist protest group, asked Estrada if the pardon meant he would no longer be joining them in a broad effort to oust Arroyo.
“Is he joining the Arroyo syndicate... either openly or discreetly as part of the exchange deal with Mrs. Arroyo or will he remain a staunch critic,” of the government, Pamalakaya asked in a statement.
Estrada was elected by a landslide in 1998 only to be ousted in a popular uprising in 2001 over corruption charges that later led to his conviction.
While in detention, Estrada and his supporters had vehemently opposed Arroyo, refusing to recognize her as president.
However, after the pardon was announced, Estrada thanked Arroyo profusely and said he was giving up any plans of running for office again. (From reports by Inquirer News Service & AFP)
