Arroyo refuses to enter plea to plunder

Former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is accompanied by husband Atty. Mike Arroyo when she arrives Monday at the Sandiganbayan for her plunder case. TETCH TORRES/INQUIRER.net

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has a Valentine’s date arranged for her by the Sandiganbayan.

On Feb. 14, 2013, the antigraft court said it would hold a pretrial hearing on the latest plunder charge against Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative.

Arroyo on Monday refused to enter a plea on the charge involving the alleged misuse of P366 million in Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds,  saying she did not recognize the authority of the Sandiganbayan to try her.

This prompted the Sandiganbayan to put in a “not guilty” plea for her.

Wearing a pink shawl over a light pink dress and a neck brace, the 65-year-old Arroyo arrived in court at 7:30 a.m. in a wheelchair, smiling for photographers.

The former President, who had two spinal operations two years ago, sat silently beside her family and lawyer while charges were read to the court.

The whole proceedings in the court’s first division lasted 15 minutes.

She could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if she is sent to trial and found guilty.

“We do not recognize the court’s jurisdiction over this case,” said Raul Lambino, Arroyo’s counsel, later told reporters. He described the case as “political persecution.”

“She is sad over this case,” he said, adding that Arroyo has a petition in the Supreme Court questioning the validity of the case and the court’s jurisdiction to hear it.

Prosecutors accuse Arroyo and nine officials of the PCSO of transferring around P366 million of the state lottery money to an intelligence fund for personal gain.

Last week, the Ombudsman threw out another plunder charge against her, saying there was not enough evidence to sustain allegations that she diverted over P530 million in funds meant for overseas Filipino workers to her presidential election campaign in 2004.

Arroyo had been out on bail on an election sabotage charge, but was rearrested in connection with the PCSO case while she was undergoing routine medical checkup at Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), where she is on hospital arrest.

She is also facing corruption charges in the multimillion-dollar telecommunications deal with China’s ZTE Corp. The public broadband deal was aborted in 2007.

She denies all the charges.

Bail hearing

Arroyo’s lawyers have also asked the court to grant her bail in the PCSO case, as well as allow her to leave to visit the graves of her parents on Nov. 1.

Police whisked Arroyo back to VMMC in Quezon City after the hearing. A Philippine Daily Inquirer informant said the atmosphere was somber in the presidential suite on her return with her family.

During the separate bail hearing, which Arroyo did not attend, her lawyer argued the evidence against the former President was weak.

Dozens of Arroyo’s supporters gathered outside the heavily guarded courtroom, chanting, singing and holding placards and banners. They were watched closely by about 400 policemen.

The former President was accompanied by husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and children—Ang Galing Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado Arroyo and Luli Arroyo-Bernas.

After the plunder information was read, Arroyo’s chief counsel, Anacleto Diaz, told the court his client was not entering any plea because she had a pending petition in the Supreme Court for certiorari challenging the plunder findings of the Office of the Ombudsman against her.

After entering a plea of not guilty for Arroyo, the court set a preliminary conference on Dec. 3, and the pretrial hearing next Feb. 14.

Abuse of discretion

Lambino insisted that there was an abuse of discretion by the Ombudsman in filing the plunder information against Arroyo. He said there had been an earlier finding by a five-member investigative panel that found no probable cause to file the same charge.

The findings, however, were reversed by the Ombudsman, he said.

Lambino also said that had Arroyo entered a not guilty plea, it would mean she recognized the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan and the Ombudsman over the case.

Former PCSO Director Manuel Morato, one of Arroyo’s coaccused, was not able to attend his arraignment because he was still recuperating from a heart surgery at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. His arraignment was reset on Nov. 22.

Earlier arraigned in the case were former PCSO Chairman Sergio Valencia and former PCSO assistant manager for finance Benigno Aguas, who both pleaded not guilty. The two are currently detained in Camp Crame.

Six more accused have yet to be arraigned. They are former PCSO General Manager Rosario Uriarte; former Directors Raymundo Roquero, Jose Taruc V and Ma. Fatima Valdes; former Commission on Audit (COA) Chair Reynaldo Villar, and COA Region V head Nilda Plaras.

Palace welcomes proceedings

Plaras has secured a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court pending a hearing on her claim that the Sandiganbayan and the prosecutors had committed grave abuse of discretion .

Roquero, who has gone into hiding, also has questioned in the Supreme Court his arrest warrant.

The prosecution has asked the court to order the Department of Foreign Affairs to cancel the passports of Uriarte, Taruc and Valdez after the Bureau of Immigration confirmed their departure from the country shortly before the issuance of warrants of arrest against them.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the government was satisfied with the case against Arroyo.

“Under criminal procedure, if an accused refuses to enter a plea, it is considered as a not guilty plea. So at the very least, the former President has already been arraigned and the court has acquired jurisdiction over the person,” Lacierda said.

“The case can finally move forward.” With reports from Julie Aurelio, Gil C. Cabacungan, Christine O. Avendaño, in Manila, Reuters and Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas