MANILA – The Sandiganbayan decision convicting former First Lady Imelda Marcos of seven counts of graft when she was still Metro Manila governor, drew mixed reactions from the public.
“Okay lang, kasi hatol sa kanya. Iyon ang nararapat sa kanya (It’s okay, because it’s the decision against her. It’s appropriate for her),” Quezon City resident, Paul Bernabe, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview on Friday.
“Pero sa tingin ko, hindi siya makukulong dahil lampas na, higit sa 80 years old (But in my view, she will not be imprisoned because she is more than 80 years old already),” Bernabe added.
On the other hand, Bay Hilario, another Quezon City resident, said, “If the Court so decides, wala tayong magagawa (we can do nothing). Anyway, they can appeal.”
Meanwhile, a group of youth activists and students lauded the Sandiganbayan decision, saying the ruling is “a victory for the young generation who are also the victims of Marcoses’ massive corruption.”
“We still suffer from the conditions which started from the Marcos dictatorship. The guilty verdict affirms us that justice is out there if we keep fighting,” the youth groups behind the Never November protest said in a statement.
The Akbayan party-list group also lauded the Sandiganbayan decision.
“This legal victory is a two-decade struggle by the brave Filipino people. This is a victory against historical revisionism. This comes at the heels of a time when the Marcos family is desperately trying to revise history and clear their name of the crimes they have committed,” Akbayan chairperson Emeritus Etta Rosales said. “This is retribution. “