Arroyo’s partymate in House welcomes junked raps

By: 10 years ago

Former DOJ secretary and now 1-BAP Representative Silvestre Bello III INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A former partymate of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the House of Representatives welcomed the Ombudsman’s ruling to clear the former president of involvement in the fertilizer fund scam.

1-BAP Representative Silvestre Bello III said he knew from the start that Arroyo’s charges would be junked. Bello served as Cabinet secretary under the Arroyo administration and held the post of deputy senior secretary general of Arroyo’s Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

“From the very start, I knew former president Arroyo would be cleared of the fertilizer fund scam,” Bello said in a text message to INQUIRER.net.

He added that the Ombudsman should know who is really responsible for the misuse of funds allegedly diverted to the campaign kitty of Arroyo in 2004.

“No such funds ever passed the hands of the former president. By now, the Ombudsman should know who received and misused the funds,” Bello, a former justice secretary, said.

Meanwhile, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the Ombudsman’s decision shows the agency’s “impartiality” in the case.

The decision also cleared Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales of allegations that she is a “lapdog” of President Aquino, Belmonte said.

“It shows the impartiality of the Ombudsman and belies insinuations that she is the lapdog of the president,” Belmonte said in a text message.

Belmonte was a high-ranking official in Lakas before he defected to the Aquino-led Liberal Party in 2009.

The Speaker added that once Arroyo is cleared of all her charges, she would be able to assume her duties in the House.

Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, was accused of diverting P728-million funds intended for fertilizers to her campaign kitty when she ran and won in the 2004 national elections.

She is under hospital arrest on charges that she used for personal gain P366 million in intelligence funds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

The former president still faces graft raps over the botched NBN-ZTE deal before the Sandiganbayan, and most recently a respondent to plunder raps over the Malampaya fund scam.

She is also facing electoral sabotage cases for allegedly rigging the elections in the 2007 polls.