No proof in Arroyo PCSO case, says lawyer

Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. JOAN BONDOC

The Ombudsman has no proof that former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had profited from the intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) which makes the plunder case against her “as tenuous as the electoral sabotage case filed by the Commission on Elections,” her lawyer said.

Ferdinand Topacio said that for the Sandiganbayan to consider the P365-million PCSO plunder case, the Ombudsman should provide concrete evidence that Arroyo profited from the alleged diversion of the PCSO’s operating budget to her intelligence fund from January 2008 to June 2010 that was used for “fictitious expenditures.”

“There is no plunder if they cannot prove the funds benefited Mrs. Arroyo or private interests. This is all speculation,” Topacio said in a phone interview, adding that “the funds were used for altruistic purposes such as blood money to save our kababayan facing death (sentences) abroad.”

“At worst, Mrs. Arroyo is culpable of technical malversation which carries a light penalty. But the reason for the diversion was justifiable, she was trying to save people’s lives.”

Topacio said Arroyo’s legal team continued to beef up her defense after a string of legal victories last week. Arroyo ended eight months of hospital detention after Pasay City Regional Trial Court Judge Jesus Mupas granted her P1-million bail after finding no strong case against her in an electoral sabotage complaint. The Sandiganbayan also rejected the Ombudsman’s plea for a new arrest warrant for her. Gil C. Cabacungan