‘No plunder in PCSO case,’ Arroyo insists

MANILA, Philippines – On July 9, detained former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asked the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to set aside its April 6, 2015 resolution that rejected her claim that prosecution evidence against her is weak.

Arroyo insisted that the prosecution’s evidence does not prove beyond reasonable doubt that she committed plunder in approving several requests by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) for additional and confidential intelligence funds (CIF) from 2008 to 2010 totaling about P366 million.

It was Arroyo’s note signed off with an “OK” and her signature on the letter requests submitted by former PCSO general manager Rosario Uriarte that allowed her to convert corporate funds into CIF, which was used for other purposes.

The defense slammed the prosecution’s claim that the alleged “ill-gotten wealth” of the former president in this case totalled P365,997,915. The Arroyo camp said the amount referred to the total transaction.

The former president’s lawyers cited the records of the discussion between former Senators Wigberto Tanada and Neptali Gonzales during deliberations on the plunder law. According to the lawyers, the deliberations showed that the intent of Congress was to make a distinction between the amount of a specific transaction and the amount that is amassed from it by the accused.

“The amount of the transaction …is not the amount that went to the personal benefit of any of the accused. Senator Tanada, the author of the law himself, equates ill-gotten wealth with personal benefit whereas the prosecution ignobly equates ill-gotten wealth with the amount of the transaction,” Arroyo’s lawyers argued.

The court earlier denied Arroyo’s Dumurrer to evidence, insisting that Arroyo, Uriarte and former PCSO budget and accounts officer Benigno Aguas acted in conspiracy with each other to defraud the PCSO.

It said Uriarte was the main beneficiary of the “raids on the public treasury” and that she amassed “more than the threshold amount of P50 million” in ill-gotten wealth with the help of Arroyo and Aguas.

The court dismissed the charges against all the members of the Board of Directors of PCSO, citing lack of evidence to support that they participated in the unlawful transaction, but continued with the case against Arroyo. 

It is up to 3 justices to dismiss the plunder charges. Her last challenge to dismiss the charges lost only by a 3-2 vote when the Sandiganbayan affirmed the sufficiency of the evidence against her.

It was Associate Justice Rafael Lagos who penned the majority decision. Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz and Napoleon Inoturan concurred, while Associate Justices Rodolfo Ponferrada and Alex L. Quiroz dissented. – Rappler.com