FORMER president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has called for an end to the use of the justice system for political persecution, saying she hoped she would be the “last victim.”

Arroyo made the statement during a general assembly of retired regional trial court (RTC) judges on Saturday at the Manila Hotel, noting that cases against her successor, Benigno Aquino 3rd and his political allies, were being handled fairly.

Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

She thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for providing “the enabling environment that freed the judiciary from the reign of fear.”

“I’m not saying that political figures should be immune from prosecution, but I’m saying that the process should be fair and even-handed — as I believe that the cases against Noynoy Aquino and his allies now are undergoing a fair and even-handed due process,” Arroyo said.

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Aquino, who succeeded Arroyo as president in 2010, is facing before the Sandiganbayan a graft case and charge of usurpation of official functions in connection with the botched police counter-terrorism operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in January 2015.

“Many ask how I feel about the persecution I underwent. Any rancor I have is not personal. My rancor is more against the whole system of persecution using the justice system. I don’t wish what happened to me on my worst enemy. The whole thing of using political power to persecute political enemies using the justice system must stop. Let me be the last victim,” Arroyo said.

The Supreme Court in 2016 dismissed for lack of evidence the plunder case that Arroyo and other individuals faced before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the alleged misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office funds during her presidency.

Arroyo was then released from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, where she had been detained since 2012.