ShareThisSandiganbayan says
‘not guilty’ for her; SC
ruling fails to save GMA
QUEZON CITY— The Sandiganbayan on Monday entered a “not guilty” plea on behalf of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when arraigned in connection with the P366-million plunder case filed against her.
This was after the former President refused to enter a plea on the charges against her during her arraignment Monday morning. The arraignment lasted for only 10 minutes.
The former President who is now congresswoman of the second district of Pampanga earlier asked the Supreme Court to stop her arraignment.
The Office of the Ombudsman, meanwhile, has dismissed for lack of evidence the technical malversation case against Mrs. Arroyo and 11 others in connection with the alleged misuse of P530 million funds intended for overseas Filipino workers.
The dismissal order was contained in a 47-page memorandum and an 11-page supplemental memorandum approved by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales dated June 14, 2012 and Oct. 12, 2012 respectively.
Aside from Arroyo, the Ombudsman also ordered the dismissal of the case against former president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation now Chairman of the Civil Service Commission Francisco Duque III;
former Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo; and former Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Chairman of the Board of Trustees Patricia Sto. Tomas, and former OWWA Board of Trustees Members Virgilio Angelo;
Manuel Imson, Rosalinda Baldoz, Mina Figueroa, Caroline Rogge, Victorino Balais, Gregorio Oca and Virginia Pasalo.
In her 81-page petition, Arroyo said there is no evidence to show she participated in the so-called “grand conspiracy” to plunder the intelligence funds of the PCSO.
The petition said that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales herself admitted that Arroyo’s participation in the release of PCSO funds was merely approving the request for Confidential/Intelligence Funds.
“According to the Ombudsman, the acts of authorizing the disbursement, release and use of PCSO’s CIF involved discretionary acts of the concerned PCSO officials,” the petition said.
“Clearly, therefore, to hold petitioner GMA liable, there must be evidence that she also participated or was involved in the separate discretionary acts of the PCSO…The Ombudsman should not have stretched her findings to indict petitioner GMA for acts which she did not do or cause to be done,” the petition added.
Because of this, the Sandiganbayan set the preliminary conference on the case on Dec. 3, 2012.
Charged with Mrs. Arroyo are former PCSO general manager Rosario Uriarte; former PCSO Chairman Sergio Valencia, former PCSO directors Manuel Morato, Raymundo Roquero, Jose Taruc V and Ma. Fatima Valdes; former COA Chairman Reynaldo Villar and PCSO assistant general manager for finance Benigno Aguas for the crime of plunder.
Morato was not arraigned because he has just undergone triple bypass operation at the St. Luke’s Medical Center.
Valencia and Aguas have surrendered earlier and are confined at the Philippine National Police detention cell in Camp Crame.
Taruc and Valdes, on the other hand, have gone in hiding in the United States.
Mrs. Arroyo as well as COA Region V head Nilda Plaras filed a separate petition before the SC seeking to stop the Sandiganbayan from implementing its Oct. 3, 2012 resolution.
Mrs. Arroyo was accompanied by her husband, Atty. Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, and their children Lourdes Evangelina or Luli, Camarines Norte Rep. Diosdado Dato Arroyo and Ang Galing Pinoy Party-list Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo.
The former president is currently under “hospital arrest” at the Veterans’ Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City.
The Philippine National Police imposed tight security at the Sandiganbayan for the arraignment.
The plunder case stemmed from the alleged illegal use of P366-million confidential/intelligence fund of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
Plunder is a non-bailable offense which is punishable with life imprisonment.
The Supreme Court clarified the order it issued stopping the Sandiganbayan from implementing the latter’s Oct. 3, 2012 resolution.
The resolution which ordered the arrest of accused in the P366-million plunder case does not cover former President and now Pampanga (2nd District) Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after all, the High Court stated.
SC Acting Public Information Office Chief and Spokesperson Atty. Maria Victoria Gleoresty Guerra said the SC resolution only covers Commission on Audit official Nilda B. Plaras, who filed a petition before the SC ahead of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“This is to clarify that the Oct 24, 2012 temporary restraining order issued by the Court’s Third Division in GR Nos. 203693-94, Plaras v. Sandiganbayan, enjoins the implementation of the warrant of arrest against petitioner Nilda B. Plaras as ordered in the assailed resolution of the Sandiganbayan dated October 3, 2012 in Criminal Case No. SB-12-CRM-0174,” Guerra said in a one-page statement.
This is the second clarification made by the SC on Monday after texting members of the media Monday morning, saying “Advisory: The SC PIO will furnish the media, as well as upload today, a copy of the SC TRO on former President GMA’s arraignment before the Sandiganbayan on PCSO/plunder case. Fyi. Tnx.”
After clarifying the discrepancy between the text and the SC resolution, Guerra said the TRO also covers Arroyo since the Oct. 3, 2012 resolution also mentions Plaras and the other accused.
After further pressing for clarification especially since the Sandiganbayan said they have not yet received a copy of the SC resolution, Guerra said that they will again verify and made the statement clarifying that Plaras is the only one covered by the TRO.
In an 81-page petition for certiorari and prohibition, Mrs. Arroyo, through her counsel Anacleto Diaz, has asked the SC to reverse the finding of probable cause by the Office of the Ombudsman and order the dismissal of the plunder case against her.
Mrs. Arroyo, who now represents the second district of Pampanga, is under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City after the Sandiganbayan ordered her arrest.
In her petition, Arroyo said there is no evidence to show she participated in the so-called “grand conspiracy” to plunder the intelligence funds of the PCSO.
The petition said that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales herself admitted that Arroyo’s participation in the release of PCSO funds was merely approving the request for Confidential/Intelligence Funds.
“According to the Ombudsman, the acts of authorizing the disbursement, release and use of PCSO’s CIF involved discretionary acts of the concerned PCSO officials,” the petition said.
“Clearly, therefore, to hold petitioner GMA liable, there must be evidence that she also participated or was involved in the separate discretionary acts of the PCSO…The Ombudsman should not have stretched her findings to indict petitioner GMA for acts which she did not do or cause to be done,” the petition added.
The petition moreover said if the Ombudsman dismissed the plunder case against former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita because he merely approved the request for additional CIF by Uriarte, the case against Arroyo should also be dismissed because what she did was similar to that of Ermita.
It added the case against Arroyo has “undertones of political harassment,” with the complainants known allies of the present administration.
The petition also took note of the fact that the Ombudsman filed the plunder case before the Sandiganbayan a few days before the State-of-the-Nation Address of President Benigno Aquino III on July 23, 2012.
It also said that the warrant for Arroyo’s arrest was issued at the time of the filing of her certificate of candidacy.
Arroyo is seeking a second term as representative of the second district of Pampanga.
The complaint against them was approved and filed by the Ombudsman in July this year.
The respondents allegedly conspired in withdrawing, amassing, accumulating public funds worth more than P300 million from July 2007 to January 2010.
Uriarte allegedly wrote several letters to Arroyo to authorize her to utilize the intelligence funds for PCSO to help them in conducting intelligence operations.
During the Senate investigation in-aid of legislation last year, Uriarte said that the CIF was used to investigate how medicine given to beneficiaries ended up in commercial markets and the creation of measures to counter scams victimizing lotto bettors.
This is the first plunder case filed against Arroyo and the third criminal case filed against her — the other cases are the electoral sabotage now pending before the Pasay City Regional Trial Court and the graft and corruption case pending before the Sandiganbayan.
However, she has already posted bail on both charges.
The Office of the Ombudsman, meanwhile, has dismissed for lack of evidence the technical malversation case against Mrs. Arroyo and 11 others in connection with the alleged misuse of P530 million funds intended for overseas Filipino workers.
The dismissal order was contained in a 47-page memorandum and an 11-page supplemental memorandum approved by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales dated June 14, 2012 and Oct. 12, 2012 respectively.
Aside from Arroyo, the Ombudsman also ordered the dismissal of the case against former president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation now Chairman of the Civil Service Commission Francisco Duque III;
former Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo; and former Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Chairman of the Board of Trustees Patricia Sto. Tomas, and former OWWA Board of Trustees Members Virgilio Angelo;
Manuel Imson, Rosalinda Baldoz, Mina Figueroa, Caroline Rogge, Victorino Balais, Gregorio Oca and Virginia Pasalo.
Duque is the current Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, Romulo was the former Foreign Secretary and Baldoz is the incumbent Labor Secretary.
The Ombudsman reversed the findings of the Department of Justice, citing lack of evidence against the 12 respondents.
It said the funds could not have been used for the re-election of Arroyo because it was actually released in 2005 or a year after the May 2004 presidential elections.
“The truth that the OWWA Medicare funds were released only in 2005 or after the election in 2004, and only subsequent to the issuance by the OWWA Board of Resolution effecting the transfer of the funds and with the effectivity of the IRR of EO 182 as amended, only prove that respondents Duque, Macapagal-Arroyo and the OWWA Board never intended that the OWWA Medical funds be diverted for purposes other than to benefit the Filipino Overseas Contract Workers,” the 47-page memorandum said.
The Ombudsman also noted the reports from the Commission on Audit dated Feb. 28, 2006 and March 15, 2007 which confirmed that the P530 million OWWA funds were transferred to the PHIC and used for the benefit of the OFWs.
Likewise, the Ombudsman also cleared Arroyo for approving the release of US$ 293,500 OWWA funds.
The Ombudsman said it was legal for Arroyo to allow such disbursement since it was part of the US$ 1-million contingency fund for OFWs caught in conflict areas in the Middle East.