MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang is pleased that the government’s cases against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her family are “moving” under the new Ombudsman, Conchita Carpio Morales.
An Ombudsman fact-finding panel on Wednesday found Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, liable for graft charges over the allegedly “anomalous” sale of helicopters to the Philippine National Police (PNP) in 2009.
“At least under the watch of Ombudsman Carpio Morales, the cases are now moving,” said presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
Sitting on cases
The Aquino administration had accused former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez of sitting on the graft cases involving Arroyo and her allies. Gutierrez was impeached by the Aquino-controlled House of Representatives last March, and resigned last April before she could be brought to trial in the Senate.
President Aquino appointed Morales, a newly retired Supreme Court justice, to replace Gutierrez.
Lacierda said the Arroyo camp should just face the charges and not make allegations that they are being persecuted by the government.
“Well, they can suspect anything they want. Instead of crying foul, let them just defend themselves and submit their counter-affidavit in the chopper scandal,” he said.
He said he hoped the Arroyos will not say the case now being faced by Mike Arroyo was also being railroaded, which was their reaction when an electoral sabotage case was filed against the former President, now a congresswoman representing Pampanga.
No counter-affidavit
Lacierda said Arroyo had refused to submit a counter-affidavit on the electoral sabotage case filed against her.
(Arroyo questioned the constitutionality of the joint Department of Justice-Commission on Election joint panel that carried out the fact-finding and preliminary investigation of the electoral sabotage case against her. The petition has yet to be decided by the Supreme Court.)
“In this new case, they might say again its being railroaded and then they will also not file a counter-affidavit,” Lacierda said.
Former PNP chief Jesus Versoza, who was similarly found liable in the helicopter deal case, yesterday said he would cooperate in the Ombudsman investigation, but said in a statement he could not “intelligently comment on the charges filed by the Ombudsman yet in the absence of a copy of the complaint.”
P62-M estafa case
Versoza said he did not know the precise implication of this development, considering that the PNP had also filed a P62 million estafa case against the suppliers of the two helicopters purchased by the PNP in 2009, which turned out to be secondhand and were alleged to be owned by Mike Arroyo.
“Just the same, we shall participate in the case and trust in the cold neutrality and impartiality of Ombudsman Morales,” he said.
Others accused
Also found liable for violation of the Anti-Graft Law were former Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno; Manila Aerospace Products Trading Corp. president Hilario de Vera; and National Police Commission members Avelino Razon, Miguel Coronel, Celia Sanidad-Leones, Conrado Sumanga Jr.; and 28 other PNP officers.
The fact-finding panel’s findings will be subjected to a preliminary investigation to be completed in 60 days as ordered Morales. The inquiry will determine whether there is probable cause to file the charges in court.
The case stemmed from revelations that emerged in a Senate investigation that two Raven helicopters that the PNP purchased from Lionair belonged to Mike Arroyo, and were made to appear brand new.
Lionair’s Archibald Po and Renato Sia, who had alleged that Mike Arroyo was the owner of the used helicopters, were not among those listed as liable by the Ombudsman panel even though they were named in the PNP complaint.