Sandiganbayan told to submit full record of Arroyo plunder rap

Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Supreme Court has ordered the Sandiganbayan to submit the complete records of the remaining plunder case against former President and reelected Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In a one-page notice dated May 25, the high court, upon instruction from Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, ordered the Sandiganbayan to immediately submit the complete records of the case in connection with the alleged misuse of the P366-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) fund.

The high court also told the Sandiganbayan to give “prompt and preferential attention” to the directive received by Atty. Renato Bocar, executive clerk of the anti-graft court.

The order was issued before the justices resume session on Tuesday.

Arroyo recently filed a motion for an urgent resolution of her plea to be placed under house arrest.

She told the high court that her motion has been pending since last December.

In her motion, she wants to be transferred from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City to her house in La Vista Subdivision in the same city.

Her doctors believed that her condition will improve if she will be staying with her family.

The high tribunal earlier stopped Arroyo’s trial in the remaining plunder case through a status quo ante order (SQAO) on the proceedings before the first division of the anti-graft court pending its resolution of her bail petition. The order has been extended three times and will remain in effect until June 20. RAM/rga

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