Plunder complaint filed vs Arroyo, son over CamSur infra project

Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A complaint for plunder has been filed with the Office of the Ombudsman against former president and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and son Camarines Sur Representative Diosdado Ignacio “Dato ”Arroyo in connection with the questionable skybridge and dam project in Camarines Sur.

In a 17-page complaint filed Tuesday, complainant Sanlakas through lawyer Roberto “Argee” Guevara, Renecio Espiritu Jr., Jose Aaron Pedrosa and Juliano Fernando Guiang alleged that aside from plunder, the two also violated the Anti-Graft Law when Mrs. Arroyo gave as a “birthday gift” to her son in 2008 a package of infrastructure projects worth P3-billion.

The P3-billion “birthday gift” consists of a reforestation program, the building of a dam, irrigation works and a skybridge project from Libmanan town to Canaman town and to shorten the travel time to Naga City.

Complainants said the project started without any real consultation with affected communities while the release of funds was done hastily.

However, the complainants said no project was completed at all within the time frame declared by Malacañang.

“The project was a scam all along, designed to ensure that any release for the Php 900 million project will be liquidated in the form of a 30 percent “SOP” and used to bankroll Dato Arroyo’s 2010 congressional bid.” Guevarra said adding that Sanlakas members from Camarines Sur brought him to where the bridge should’ve been built and upon his ocular inspection, “the only thing that could be seen was the sky and a river – but no bridge.”

At the same time, Espiritu added that “even Dato Arroyo’s alma mater, Ateneo de Naga, through its Institute  for Environmental Conservation and Research (INECAR) opposed the ill-conceived dam project which would’ve flooded 13 Camarines Sur towns.