So yesterday we got
news that Justice Secretary Alberto Agra has cleared Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and his uncle, Maguindanao Vice Gov. Akmad Ampatuan Sr., of the massacre of the 57 people in Maguindanao.
Justice Secretary Alberto Agra photo from
The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The justice secretary said that their alibi that there were not in Maguindanao at the time of the murder was good enough to drop charges on them. Kind of like saying that GMA did not cheat in the elections because she didn't stuff the ballot herself. Yeah right.
When the decision was made, state prosecutors led by Chief State Prosecutor Claro Arellano Monday protested the resolution that Agra issued on the night of April 16 absolving the two Ampatuans and
walked out.
The decision also led to
protests and The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) urged the public to wear black to express “rage and disappointment” over the decision of Justice Secretary Alberto Agra to drop murder charges against two members of the Ampatuan clan.
The timing and decision surprised a lot of people but I'm hardly surprised by the outcome. I knew from the start that all these charges and display of the Ampatuans to the DOJ are just for show. Nothing will come out of it.
I just
read that the timing of the release of the two Ampatuan is quite suspicious especially Zaldy since he is said to be an "expert" in poll manipulation. And guess who the Ampatuans are supporting in the election? No, not Administration candidate Gibo Teodoro. But the secret candidate Manny "Villarroyo" Villar. Don't believe me? Look at this photo.
As written in this article, orange and yellow is the campaign color of Manny Villar. Highly suspicious isn't it? I guess there's really no point in all the campaigning since we know that Manny Villar is a sure winner.
That is of course a defeatist attitude. The only way to make sure that Manny Villar doesn't win is to make sure vote and choose your vote wisely. But according the the polls, the only person who can beat Villar is Noynoy Aquino, who isn't really my first choice for a candidate.
I'm sad to say, we Filipinos may yet again have to choose between the lesser of two evils.
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