[APWSLMembers 451] Malacanang using Jimenez against Estrada and the opposition; Palace support for Erap's release suspect

[Kilusang Mayo Uno]

 From the Office of Rep. Crispin Beltran
South Wing Room 602 House of Representatives
Constitution Hills 1126 Quezon City, Philippines
Reference: Rep.Crispin Beltran (+63)9278711080
Ina Alleco R. Silverio, chief of staff  931.6615, 09195065269

News Release   Friday, January 12, 2007



Malacanang using Jimenez against Estrada and the opposition;
Palace support for Erap's release suspect



  Anakpawis Representative and political detainee Crispin 
Beltran  today said that Malacanang's 180 degree turn and support for 
moves for the release of ex-president Joseph Estrada was suspicious, 
and that the timing is highly suspect.

"It's impossible to not suspect that an agreement has been forged 
between former Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez and Malacanang, and that the 
sole intention is to unite against Estrada and undermine the 
opposition who still considers the former president as its head," he 
said. "Mr. Jimenez is now heaping all blame on Mr. Estrada while 
Malacanang is projecting magnanimity by saying that it supports the 
release of  the latter. Clearly, Malacanang is up to something, and 
we can bet that it has something to do with the upcoming elections 
where the Estrada-led opposition is strongly in the running for victory."

Beltran said that Malacanang is using Jimenez against Estrada, and by 
extension, against the opposition. "The Macapagal-Arroyo camp is 
using Jimenez to   launch attacks against Estrada, but it doesn't 
seem to have any effect because the latter is already under 
incarceration, for one; and for another, all this finger-pointing is 
not doing the Macapagal-Arroyo any good. More accusations against 
Estrada does not automatically benefit the Macapagal-Arroyo camp; in 
fact, it all the more exposes how desperate and insecure 
Macapagal-Arroyo and her handlers are about their political footing. 
They're highly insecure about the remaining power and influence of 
the ex-president."

"We hope that Mr. Jimenez would not allow himself to be used by 
Malacanang in the furtherance of Macapagal-Arroyo's political 
ambitions. Jimenez' seeming sincerity in wanting to start over with a 
clean slate and serving the country should not be wasted in joining 
forces with Macapagal-Arroyo and supporting her."

Beltran said that there were reports that   Jimenez asked 
Macapagal-Arroyo to drop former secretary Hernando Perez in a quid 
pro quo agreement. "Perez was the sacrificial lamb. Macapagal-Arroyo 
and her handlers were all too willing to sacrifice the former justice 
secretary in exchange for Jimenez' support, possibly for the May 
midterm polls," he said.

The activist lawmaker said that Malacanang through secretary Mike 
Defensor is now floating the possibility of Estrada's release as a 
means to neutralize the opposition. "But this is bait no one should 
bite, much less ex-president Estrada and members of the opposition. 
The timing is highly suspect. Most likely, Malacanang is throwing 
this bone of a possibility of release for the ex-president as a means 
to divert the opposition's attention and divide their ranks. The main 
objective is always to weaken the opposition."

"No one should fall for this trap. Malacanang has no moral 
credibility to call for unity with the opposition or with any of its 
political critics. None of the charges and accusations that have been 
floated against the incumbent illegitimate president Gloria 
Macapagal-Arroyo have been settled; and under her leadership, the 
country's economy and political stability has gone from bad to worse 
and steadily more so," he said.#

-- 
The torturer is a functionary. The dictator is a functionary. Armed 
bureaucrats, who lose their jobs if they don't do their tasks 
efficiently. That, and nothing more than that. They are not 
extraordinary monsters. We won't grant them that grandeur. - Eduardo Galeano