MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — It surely is an awkward moment for former President Benigno Aquino III to finally meet again his political nemesis and predecessor, then president and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
This is the first National Security Council (NSC) meeting held in Malacañang.
A video by state-run radio-television Malacañang showed that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte had a photo opportunity with the past presidents before he convened the NSC.
At the first phase of the video, Duterte was seen shaking hands with former President Fidel Ramos. Arroyo afterwards shook the hand of Ramos.
When Aquino arrived, he shook hands with Duterte and Ramos but not with arroyo.
The photo sent by Communications Secretary Martin Andanar also showed that Aquino and Arroyo were two seats apart, with Ramos and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada in between them.
The four former leaders are members of the 35-member council.
Arroyo had been detained under the Aquino administration after being charged of plunder in connection with the alleged misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) funds.
Arroyo in 2012 stayed under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center due to neck injury but was set free last week, following the Supreme Court’s decision in her favor.
Aquino had expressed dismay over the high court’s ruling, insisting that his predecessor “actually supported and encouraged poor managerial performance in the PCSO—to the extent that transfers of funds were repeatedly allowed.
In an interview, Arroyo said she should be “the last victim of political persecution,” calling her detention as “unjust.”
