Monday, November 21, 2011

GMA's Mugshots


"wala pa bang mug shot?"

"Ilabas ang mugshot!"

"no mug shot for the public!!!

pinagbawal ng court na ilabas sa public yung pang profile pic este yung mug shot ni GMA"

Authorities took Arroyo's mugshots, fingerprints, and hand prints  inside her room at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City.

The mugshots were taken while she was sitting on her bed in a reclined position. Arroyo's nameplate were held up by the technician while she was being photographed because Arroyo was "not capacitated" to hold the plate herself, Philippine National Police (PNP) Senior Superintendent Joel Coronel, who facilitated the procedure, said.

Frail and suffering from high blood pressure, she was wearing her neck brace and a standard hospital gown while friends and relatives witnessed the technician taking the mugshots.

The mugshots above did not come from the Pasay City Regional Trial Court which has refused to release the police photos. There was also a request that the mugshots would not be allowed to be released to the public yet. Sources who requested anonymity sent the photos to a local Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper.



What Is A Mugshot?

A mug shot, mugshot or booking photograph, is a photographic portrait taken after one is arrested. The purpose of the mug shot is to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of the arrested individual to allow for identification by victims and investigators. Most mug shots are two-part, with one side-view photo, and one front-view. They may be compiled into a mug book in order to determine the identity of a criminal. In high-profile cases mug shots may also be published by the media.

The mug shot was invented by Allan Pinkerton, a famous U.S. detective of the 19th Century. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency first began using these on Wanted posters from theWild West days. By the 1870s the agency had amassed the largest collection of mug shots in the United States. The paired arrangement may have been inspired by the 1865 prison portraits taken by Alexander Gardner of accused conspirators in the Lincoln assassination trial, though Gardner's photographs were full-body portraits with only the heads turned for the profile shots.

Prior to the advent of computer technology, the accused were sometimes made to hold a placard with their name, date of birth, booking ID, weight and other relevant information on it. In recent years, digital photography is used for the booking process, and the accused is no longer asked to hold the card while the photo is taken. Rather, the digital photograph is linked to a database record concerning the arrest.

The term derives from mug, an English slang term for face, dating from the 18th century.

The phrase is also sometimes used to refer to any small picture of a face used for any other reason.

Arroyo's Mugshot

Police from the Southern Police District fingerprinted and took mugshots of Arroyo on her St. Luke's Hospital bed Saturday after she was arrested for electoral fraud, creating a high-profile test case for PNoy's bid to make good on his pledges to rid the country of corruption.

The Pasay City court handling the electoral sabotage case against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and two others has allowed the former president to stay under hospital arrest until issues surrounding the case are discussed.

Judge Jesus Mupas allowed Arroyo’s continued hospital detention “for humanitarian reasons”.

Jose Flaminiano, the top defense counsel lawyering for the former president, sought his client’s continued detention given her frail condition. He also cited the directive of PNoy to accord Arroyo the utmost respect as former head of state.

The lawyer also mentioned the government’s position that it would not oppose any request for Arroyo’s hospital arrest.

Arroyo's arrest "is a result of the reforms we have put in place to fight corruption," PNoy said  after returning from a regional summit in Indonesia. "The guiding principle behind these reforms: The guilty should be made accountable, because if not it is like keeping the door open for those who still wish to abuse the people."

Arroyo tried to leave the country on Tuesday after the Philippines' Supreme Court ruled that she was free to depart for treatment for a bone disease despite her being under investigation for separate corruption allegations, setting off a drama-laden legal tussle.

Government officials defied the court ruling, instructing immigration authorities to prevent her from boarding a flight to Hong Kong amid chaotic scenes at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The move triggered a heated debate among many Filipinos, including politicians, lawyers and doctors, over whether the former president is a flight risk and whether the Philippine government was over-riding legal processes in their bid to bring Ms. Arroyo to account.

Supreme Court justices, many of them appointed by Ms. Arroyo, on Friday again ruled in a 8-5 decision that she was free to leave. Later after a couple of days, the Pasay Regional Trial Court issued a warrant for Arroyo's arrest on suspicion of helping to rig the outcome of election polls—a charge that potentially carries a 40-year jail term. She is accused of conspiring with officials to tamper with results from an autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao to favor her candidates.

When Joseph Estrada was ousted in an uprising in 2001 and later convicted of corruption, he was quickly pardoned by Arroyo.  Estrada ran for president again last year, placing second in the poll. He described the charges brought against Ms. Arroyo as "karma".

Even if  PNoy continues pushing hard to try his predecessor, it could take years for the case to be concluded. The wheels of justice in the Philippines frequently turn slowly, especially in high-profile cases.  Estrada's trial took six years.

GMA may still get a reprieve if the Supreme Court declares as unconstitutional the joint Commission on Elections and the Department of Justice (Comelec-DOJ) panel that recommended her prosecution for alleged electoral fraud, officials said.


No comments:

Post a Comment