Arroyo changes lawyers in plunder raps

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has lost the services of her lead lawyer in the plunder case she is facing before the Sandiganbayan.

Lawyer Anacleto Diaz and the Diaz Del Rosario & Associates law firm informed the antigraft court’s First Division in writing last Dec. 26 that they were withdrawing from appearing in court on Arroyo’s behalf.

Diaz did not cite the reason for his and his law firm’s withdrawal and did not answer calls from reporters.

They were replaced by lawyer Modesto Ticman Jr. and the Gilera & Ticman law firm, which entered their appearance as new defense counsels for Arroyo last Dec. 19.

Diaz’s law firm furnished the court with an acknowledgment receipt signed by Ticman’s law firm for the turnover of the documents and evidence for four cases that Arroyo is facing in the antigraft court.

Meanwhile, Ticman has asked the court to be given until Jan. 5, 2014, to file their reply to the prosecution’s opposition to the motion for reconsideration of the court’s decision denying Arroyo’s petition for bail, which the former president filed last Dec. 3.

Ticman said his legal team needed more time to scrutinize the records of the case and that the motion for an extension was not intended to delay the proceedings.

Arroyo, who represents Pampanga’s second district in the House of Representatives, was charged with plunder by the Office of the Ombudsman in July last year for allegedly diverting public funds amounting to P366 million from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) “for personal gain.”

Arroyo has asked the Supreme Court to stop the Sandiganbayan from hearing the PCSO plunder case arguing that the antigraft court “acted with precipitate haste” when it issued two resolutions without giving her the opportunity to file motions for judicial determination of probable cause.

The high court has yet to act on the petition.—Cynthia D. Balana