Any move by the Supreme Court to save former president Gloria Arroyo from facing the electoral sabotage case she is facing before the Pasay City Regional Trial Court will not be taken sitting down by the people.

This is because any legal acrobatics by the SC justices handpicked by Mrs. Arroyo when she was president would infuriate the majority of Filipinos who are clamoring for justice for her plunder-plagued decade-long rule.

The widespread fear is that the SC may declare unconstitutional the creation of the joint Department of Justice and Commission on Election panel, which filed the complaint for electoral sabotage against Mrs. Arroyo, et al.

And this fear is grounded on the fact that the SC already has a track record of ruling in favor of the Arroyos such as when it declared as unconstitutional the creation of the Truth Commission which would have been headed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide.

Then there’s the much-assailed temporary restraining order issued by the eight SC justices now being pejoratively called as the “Otso Arroyo” for showing strong and unmistakable bias in favor of the Arroyos.

The TRO was hastily issued despite the clamor of the people, supported by the more discerning dissenting opinions of Senior Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, that the side of the government should be first heard through an oral argument before any TRO should even be considered.

As things transpired, the SC issued the TRO which would have allowed the Arroyos to flee the many charges they are facing, including at least six plunder complaints at the Ombudsman, if not for Justice Secretary Leila de Lima standing her ground not to allow the Arroyos to depart for Singapore last Nov. 15.

De Lima had been proven correct that the TRO was not yet operative, thus she did not violate any SC order nor was she disrespectful of the court.

This after Justice Sereno made known what SC spokesman Midas Marquez hid from the public – that the SC voted 7-6 to declare the Arroyos non-compliant with the second of three requirements of the TRO.

That second requirement was for the Arroyos to appoint a representative authorized to receive all court summons and orders on their behalf. It doesn’t require a legal mind to know that the TRO would not be operational until the requirements were met.

Meanwhile, Senator Francis Escudero should stop straddling political lines and declare once and for all whether he’s with the Aquino administration or whether he’s lawyering for the Arroyos. If it’s the latter, Escudero should first resign his senatorial seat.

For saying that the Arroyos may qualify for political asylum, Escudero should be reminded that the Arroyos are just being made to account for allegations that they plundered and pillaged billions of pesos in taxpayers’ money while cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

Is Escudero an amnesiac to have already forgotten the Hello Garci scandal of 2004, the 2007 poll fraud which deprived Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III half of his term, the Fertilizer Fund Scam, the NBN-ZTE scandal and the latest, the sale of used helicopters to the Philippine National Police as brand new and at a gross overprice at that.

In all of this, the Arroyos are obviously fishing for public sympathy that is simply not there, neck brace or no neckbrace.just being made to account for allegations that they plundered and pillaged billions of pesos in taxpayers’ money while cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

Is Escudero an amnesiac to have already forgotten the Hello Garci scandal of 2004, the 2007 poll fraud which deprived Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III half of his term, the Fertilizer Fund Scam, the NBN-ZTE scandal and the latest, the sale of used helicopters to the Philippine National Police as brand new and at a gross overprice at that.

In all of this, the Arroyos are obviously fishing for public sympathy that is simply not there, neck brace or no neckbrace.