Arroyos's mercy upon Erap.. no more hope for the state?

I was so surprised to read the news last week, I mean, how come a single woman could easily forgive a man who had done so much topsy-turvies upon her country? A man who had destroyed lives of millions just because he loves to gamble. It was totally unfair. Well so far with America and Israel in power nothing is fair in this world anyway, but the promise of Allah will be kept and Estrada will not be able to escape the worst punishment ever.. the punishment of Allah.

Here are some extracts taken from BBC showing how the Filipinos too aren't the least bit happy with Estrada's pardon.


"We all know that the Estrada pardon smacks of a clever political move on behalf of the Arroyo camp, to turn the attention away from corruption scandals and the persistent allegations of human rights violations and political killings."
-DAVE RYAN BUARON, 27, BANK WORKER, MANILA


"If Estrada's removal was symbolic of our desire for a change for the better, then his pardon is symbolic of the fact that so very little has changed."
-DOMINIQUE CIMAFRANCA, 37, IT WORKER, DAVAO, MINDANAO


"When President Arroyo's own pardon powers were being awaited by poor female prisoners over the age of 70 last year, she took so long that some of these women died before she could pardon them. And some of these women were in prison for crimes as small as smoking pot.

But it took her only six weeks to pardon a rich, powerful and immensely popular man, who has been convicted for plundering the nation."
-FATIMA LASAY, 37, ARTIST AND WRITER, MANILA

"In this country everything is so distorted and confused because every leader in our history has twisted the law for their own convenience.

I was one of those pinning my hopes on Gloria Arroyo, but after this episode, I think there is no hope for this nation."
-JOSE LUIS LEGARDA, 50, LANGUAGE CONSULTANT, MANILA


You can read the comments in full at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7074878.stm