Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales at the Meet the Inquirer forum. TRISTAN TAMAYO/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
A million peso theft without a thief.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales lamented this fact on Monday following the Supreme Court’s final decision to dismiss the plunder case of former president now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo.
In an interview with CNN Philippines’ “The Source,” Morales said the Supreme Court has made its final say on the dismissal of Arroyo’s plunder case, but as far as the Sandiganbayan is concerned, it found sufficient evidence against the former president over the misuse of P366 million in charity intelligence funds.
READ: SC affirms dismissal of Arroyo plunder cases | Ombudsman insists Arroyo guilty of plunder in PCSO case
“What can we do? That’s what the Supreme Court said. But of course, the Sandiganbayan that tried the case believed the evidence sufficed,” Morales said.
Morales said the dismissal of Arroyo’s Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) plunder case is just one of several cases involving theft of millions of taxpayers’ money where no thief was held accountable.
“There are a lot of cases involving amounts in the millions which are stolen, but no one stole it. Millions were stolen, but no one stole them,” Morales said.
Arroyo earlier told reporters she feels “vindicated” that her plunder case was dismissed by the Supreme Court due to weak evidence, urging the public to focus instead on helping the Duterte administration achieve its objectives.
READ: Arroyo feels ‘vindicated’ on being acquitted of plunder with finality
“It is truly a vindication. We can now move forward and take stock of what remains to be done to help this current administration achieve its goals of giving a better life to all Filipinos,” Arroyo said.
In a vote of 11-4, the Supreme Court affirmed its July 2016 decision acquitting Arroyo from her plunder case.
The plunder charge filed against Arroyo involved allegedly diverting P366 million in PCSO intelligence funds intended for charity use for her personal gain during her term as President from 2008 to 2010.
The high court said Arroyo’s approval of the P366 million intelligence fund releases was only ministerial and did not constitute an “overt act” to commit plunder.
READ: SC: Arroyo OK on fund release not overt act of plunder
Arroyo was also cleared of her remaining corruption case before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division, which granted her demurrer to evidence in connection with the anomalous National Broadband Network (NBN) contract with Chinese firm ZTE.
In its ruling, the anti-graft court said the prosecution failed to prove Arroyo’s element of interest for personal gain in the NBN project, and that her cancellation of the NBN-ZTE contract in 2007 “bolsters the argument that accused (Arroyo) did not hold any interest for personal gain in the approval and implementation of the NBN project.”
The court also said Arroyo could not be held liable for breaching the code of ethics when she had lunch and played golf with ZTE officials in China, because “there was no clear and indubitable proof presented by the prosecution that accused PGMA was the recipient.”
The anti-graft court’s decision to dismiss the evidence presented against her by the prosecution effectively dismissed the last of Arroyo’s corruption cases during her nine-year administration.
READ: Sandigan dismisses Arroyo’s NBN-ZTE case
Since her release from four years of hospital detention, Arroyo was elected deputy speaker in the House of Representatives, until she was stripped of her position by the House leadership for voting against the administration pet bill the death penalty. The death penalty was abolished during her administration. JE
READ: Arroyo, anti-death penalty solons ousted from key posts