Controversy
As Arroyo's Presidential Legal Counsel, Apostol engineered the pardon of Joseph "Erap" Estrada. The Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government thought of an amnesty for Estrada in hope of "reconciling with the opposition" and "unifying the country."
Apostol defended the Arroyo family in the ZTE scandal, where First Gentleman Mike Arroyo was alleged to have taken kickbacks from a multibillion peso contract. Arroyo subsequently canceled the contract, and Apostol said this cancellation was sufficient for not making any more information public “Since canceled, there was nothing to be made public…. “the Philippine Senate was “wasting the people's money by proceeding with its investigations.”
In February 2008 Apostol threatened to expel ZTE whistleblower Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada from the country. "He is a crying witness like a crying lady. Di ba sabi niya ‘probinsyanong Iintsik?’ Intsik pala siya eh. Kung ako ipapa-deport ko na ‘yan. Magulo ka dito,” said chief presidential legal adviser Sergio Apostol. (He is a crying witness like a crying lady. Did he not say he is a Chinese from the provinces? So he’s a Chinese. If it were for me I’ll have him deported. He’s unruly here.)" The Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Activist Teresita Ang-See, Senator Mar Roxas, and many others called for Apostol to apologize for his racial slurs against the Chinese and Filipino-Chinese. Apostol subsequently issued an apology, saying "This refers to my statement uttered in an emotional outburst in reaction to Mr. Jun Lozada's implication of the First Gentleman to an alleged crime based on what is, at best, hearsay evidence. Be that as it may, I sincerely apologize to our hardworking and law- abiding Filipino Chinese who may have been offended by my unintended slur."
Read more about this topic: Sergio Apostol
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