Arroyo contests plunder indictment

Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday asked the Sandiganbayan to determine whether there was sufficient basis for the Office of the Ombudsman to have filed plunder charges against her.

In a motion for judicial determination of probable cause filed by her lead counsel Anacleto Diaz, Arroyo asked the antigraft court to order the Office of the Ombudsman to produce the original resolution dated Nov. 14, 2011, on the preliminary investigation of the case.

Arroyo said she still had no copy of the Ombudsman’s decision upholding the plunder information filed against her and dismissing her motion for reconsideration.

She said she only learned about it from the broadcast media.

The case stemmed from a plunder complaint against Arroyo filed by private complainants Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and Danilo Lim, among others, in July 2011, for the alleged diversion of funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

Last July, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales filed plunder charges against Arroyo and seven other officials for the alleged misuse of P366 million in PCSO funds from 2008 to 2010.

Last Monday, Morales affirmed the joint review resolution which found probable cause to indict Arroyo and her coaccused, dismissing their motions for reconsideration. She said the case should proceed to trial.

Arroyo said the allegations contained in the charge sheet were insufficient to support a probable cause finding that she indeed committed the crime of plunder and must be put on trial.

According to Arroyo, the disbursement vouchers attached to the PCSO complaint confirmed she had no participation or involvement in any of the acts complained of. Cynthia D. Balana