Arroyo lawyer files motion seeking probable cause for arrest order

MANILA, Philippines — Former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s lawyer Anacleto Diaz on Thursday filed a motion for judicial determination of probable cause following the issuance of an arrest warrant against his client.

Diaz filed the motion at the Sandiganbayan First Division, which issued the arrest order.

The same motion included a prayer to direct Ombudsman to produce original resolution of panel of investigators which conducted the preliminary investigation on the case of plunder filed against Arroyo for the alleged misuse of P365 million worth of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) intelligence funds.

Arroyo, who was freed from detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center on a P1 million bail last July 25 for her case of electoral sabotage, is facing jail time once again after Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales filed the case before the antigraft court.

Plunder is a non-bailable offense.

The Pampanga lawmaker filed her certificate of candidacy for re-election at a Comelec office in San Fernando, Pampanga Wednesday.