Word: pardons
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...Arroyo painted the pardon, announced Thursday evening, as both an act of mercy and an attempt to bridge the country's deep political fissures. Speaking to a business conference in Manila, she called Estrada's trial and imprisonment "a cause of distraction, recrimination and intrigue." Pardoning Estrada, she added, will promote national reconciliation...
...Many Filipinos impute less altruistic motives. Estrada, a former B-list movie actor, remains hugely influential among average Filipinos - particularly compared to Arroyo. Indeed, a recent survey found that Estrada remains much more popular and more credible than the current President. Before the pardon, Estrada refused to accept the legitimacy of the Arroyo government. Letting him off, critics say, may be a way of muting his criticism and defusing the resentment of his followers. (As part of his deal with the administration, Estrada has promised not to run for office...
...Arroyo's critics, the timing of the pardon is suspect. The day before it was announced, a whistle-blower testifying in the Senate about the telecom deal alleged that her husband, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, was supposed to get $70 million in kickbacks from the now-canceled contract. (He has denied it). For Arroyo, this is an opportune time to change the subject...
...however politically expedient and however popular with the masses, the decision to pardon Estrada in a nation struggling with endemic corruption strikes many here as deeply cynical. "Of course we'd rather see him in jail," says Alberto Lim, director of the influential Makati Business Council. "They say there's no big fish caught in this country. He was the big fish we caught...
...wouldn't have had a prayer in those circumstances of taking that action last year. I mean, pardon me for taking into consideration the situation at that time," Obey said, a pencil flipping through his fingers. "I mean, that's what people do unless they're lemmings. I have no apology for trying to be pragmatic. What we were trying to do at the time is to build enough pressure on Republican Senators so that enough Republicans would switch in order to make possible some change...