Bail seen for Arroyo, Abalos in poll fraud case

Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the other former government officials charged with the nonbailable offense of electoral sabotage could be released on bail because of the prosecution’s failure to offer evidence of a conspiracy, a spokesperson for the Pasay City court hearing the case said Thursday.

Judge Jesus Mupas is set to issue a decision on the petition for bail of Arroyo, former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., and former Maguindanao Election Supervisor Lintang Bedol in late June.

“There is a possibility that the motion for bail will be granted because of all the witnesses the prosecution presented, we could not see what we were looking for,” said spokesperson Felda Domingo, referring to the element of conspiracy among the accused.

Domingo said the Comelec, the complainant in the case, had failed to present two key witnesses who were supposed to affirm conspiracy between the accused in allegedly rigging the results of the 2007 elections in Maguindanao.

During a hearing Thursday, Mupas ordered the prosecution to terminate the presentation of evidence and submit the formal offer of evidence in three days after failing to present their final two, and most important, witnesses—former Maguindanao Administrator Norie Unas and Russam Mabang, former election officer of Pandag, Maguindanao.

“The prosecution is directed to rest their case and submit a formal offer of evidence three days from today,” Mupas ordered.

Comelec lawyer Maria Juana Valesa said the prosecution had lost contact with Mabang, who claimed to have encoded fake election documents that he passed on to Bedol.

“Last night [Wednesday] we agreed that he would testify today, and I told him to meet us at the Comelec headquarters in the morning. However, he did not show up. We cannot contact him and we don’t know where he is,” Valesa said.

She said that the prosecution also could not present Unas, who was supposed to prove that Arroyo had allegedly ordered Ampatuan to manipulate the election results for Maguindanao to produce a 12-0 sweep in favor of Arroyo’s Team Unity senatorial ticket, because his security had been compromised.

She later told reporters that there were shoot-to-kill orders for Unas and Mabang, but declined to elaborate.

Valesa asked Mupas to reset the hearing for June 14 when the Comelec would definitely present Unas, but defense lawyers objected saying the prosecution had been given far too many extensions already.

Mupas denied Valesa’s motion to postpone the hearings, and ordered the defense to present their evidence on June 21.

“After which, the case will be submitted for resolution,” Domingo said, but she clarified that the prosecution could still present Unas and Mabang during the hearing on the merits of the case.

Valesa said the prosecution could still appeal the court’s decision. “We have made a really strong case, that’s why [other forces] are desperate to get our witness,” she said. Nathaniel R. Melican