President Aquino responds to John Silvas open letter to the president re pork detention cells ~ruli AQUINO REACTS TO VIRAL OPEN LETTER ON PORK DETENTION CELLS. Posted by Louis Bacani in Philippine Star on 25 June 2014 at 1123a tinyurl/m5z92us The detention unit for each senator at the Camp Crame Custodial Center has a single-sized bed, kitchen sink, ceiling fan and a private bathroom with a handheld shower. Inset: The detention cell of the late Sen. Benigno Ninoy Aquino Jr. with a life-sized figure of the democracy icon. MANILA, PHILIPPINES. President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday reacted to an open letter criticizing the perceived special treatment to the senators detained in connection with the pork barrel scam. The letter, which has been making the rounds online, compared the detention cells of Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada and that of the Presidents father, the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. during Martial Law. John Silva, the writer of the viral letter, noted that the huge comfy detention cells of Revilla and Estrada were 10 times bigger than the one given to the Presidents martyred father. Your dad didnt go to jail for stealing. He was into more heady stuff like a return to democracy, human rights and moral convictions. So why the hell are you treating these senators with kid gloves, these guys who cant seem to recall, account, or sign off on billions of missing pesos? Silva said in his letter. In response, Aquino said it is difficult to compare the detention cells of his father and of the two senators. Baka mahirap i-kontra, yung i-compare, dahil talagang ang tinarget [noong Martial Law ay si Ninoy], Aquino told the media during his working visit in Japan yesterday, which was shown on television reports. But he added that to be fair, his fathers detention cell in Fort Bonifacio had air conditioning at some point. The late senator, Aquino also said, was allowed to come out of his room for one hour every day. The President echoed, however, Silvas description of his fathers difficulties during his eight-year detention. [F]or somebody who is a very sociable being like my dad, yung solitary confinement was really, shall we say, a mental torture, the President said. Silva wants the President to visit the reproduction of his fathers detention cell and then do some serious and immediate changes to the cushy jail arrangements for Revilla and Estrada. Like your dad’s, give them cells that make them sweat and agonize and realize their thieving days were a blight on our people... Stop indulging the accused we are now thoroughly repulsed with or else you diminish what your father, Senator Ninoy Aquino, stood and was killed for, said Silva, civic leader and executive director of the Ortigas Foundation Library. On Tuesday, Malacañang also reacted to Silvas open letter and admitted that the country needs judicial reforms. We acknowledge that we continue to deal with a criminal justice system that needs to be overhauled and reformed in order to be truly fair and equitable, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said. Coloma assured that the Palace will pursue judicial reforms while hoping that the Sandiganbayan will conduct a fair and speedy trial of the pork barrel scam cases. Estrada, Revilla and Senate minority leader Juan Ponce Enrile are facing plunder and graft charges for supposedly amassing kickbacks by coursing their pork barrel funds to dubious foundations of businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles with the help of government agencies and officials. The Sandiganbayan has ordered the arrest of Estrada and Revilla, who have both surrendered and are now detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame. ●
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 03:55:40 +0000
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