Arroyo not going on exile, says lawyer

A spokesperson of Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday said that contrary to claims that she was planning to go on exile, the former President would come back to face fresh charges of election fraud and project kickbacks.

Lawyer Raul Lambino said that according to his conversation with Arroyo on Thursday, she would return from Europe Saturday or Sunday. He said reports that Arroyo and her husband would no longer return were “tasteless propaganda.”

“The former President is ready to face the accusations being leveled at her. We repeat that these new charges of electoral fraud come from dubious sources out to shame her rather than file formal charges against her in court. This is all part of a well-managed campaign to boost this administration’s ratings ahead of the Sona (State of the Nation Address),” Lambino said in a phone interview.

He challenged former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Zaldy Ampatuan to formally sign affidavits alleging election fraud and other charges now that President Aquino had shut the door on the latter’s wish to become a state witness in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

Lambino said the emergence of former Maguindanao election officer Lintang Bedol soon after Ampatuan aired his election fraud charge against Arroyo showed that the two men were conniving with each other.

“We know what Ampatuan’s motives are—to get out of jail on lesser charges in the Maguindanao massacre—and we know that this government is just using him to pile on charges against the former President. We are ready to face them in court if they believe they have a strong case,” Lambino said.