Press Statement
22 February 2008
References: Dr. Geneve E. Rivera, 0920 460 3712
Doctors, nurses, and other members of the health sector under Rx Gloria Out Now! (Rx GO Now!) today join teachers, priests, students, and the broad masses in the tying of white ribbons along Taft Avenue to symbolize the quest for truth and accountability amidst the culture of corruption that has characterized the administration of Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Even as the scandalous ZTE-National Broadband Network continues to unravel, the extent of corruption has already led directly to Mrs. Arroyo and her husband, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo. The Arroyo family, together with its cabal of thieves, has plundered government coffers and has run the country like its own business venture - getting multi-million dollar profits from shady deals that do not benefit the people.
The litany of corruption cases involving the Arroyos reads like a listing of major government projects: IMPSA (Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona Sociedad Anonima) Hydro-electric Power Plant US$14 M kickbacks, the President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard P536M overpricing, the NAIA 3/PIATCo contract anomaly worth US$100M in kickbacks, among others.
Yet even with the most high-profile cases, the involved government officials go scot-free: former justice secretary Hernani Perez (who was allegedly given a US$ 2M bribe by Mark Jimenez), agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante (of the P728M fertilizer scam), and national security adviser Norberto Gonzalez (who still cannot explain the Venable contract where a US-based lobby group would lobby for US support for charter change in the Philippines).
Kickbacks. Commissions. Bribes. The utter lack of accountability did nothing to moderate the greed of high-ranking public officials. Rather they have been numbed into committing more atrocities under the complicity of the Arroyos. Former Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos was not content with a US$ 65M "commission" and insisted on US$ 130M. Bubukol ito, sir.
The people's outrage cannot be contained. The morally bankrupt leadership of Mrs. Arroyo cannot be allowed to go on. This tyranny and treachery must end. If Mrs. Arroyo recognizes the historical and political significance of EDSA II, then she must submit to the will of the people: Gloria OUT Now! ###
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