Arroyo co-accused seeks bail from plunder anew in PCSO case

Former General Manager Rosario Uriarte. AP FILE PHOTO

Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes office (PCSO) general manager Rosario Uriarte filed a supplemental motion for bail as she faces trial for the non-bailable charge of plunder in a charity funds mess.

Uriarte filed a supplemental motion for bail following the Sandiganbayan First Division’s denial of her bail motion and house arrest bid in an earlier resolution.

Uriarte, the so-called “missing link” in the plunder case of former President Gloria Arroyo over the misuse of P366 million PCSO intelligence funds earlier dismissed by the Supreme Court, arrived in the country Nov. 16 last year and was arraigned on Nov. 23 to face her plunder charge.

The court denied the bail motion because it would be premature for Uriarte to cite the dismissal of Arroyo’s plunder case as the Supreme Court at the time had yet to rule on the motion for reconsideration filed by government prosecutors.

Uriarte, in asking for  bail, cited the Supreme Court acquitting Arroyo and saying the prosecution failed to prove conspiracy among Uriarte, Arroyo and PCSO budget officer Benigno Aguas to amass ill-gotten wealth.

In its Feb. 20 resolution, the court then said it could not give Uriarte a “procedural short-cut” by granting her simple motion for bail because the prosecution under the Rules on Criminal Procedure is still entitled to oppose the bail petition by showing strong evidence of guilt.

READ: Court denies house arrest bid of Arroyo co-accused in PCSO case

Uriarte filed a supplemental bail motion now that the Supreme Court in its April 18 resolution denied the government’s motion for reconsideration for lack of merit.

Uriarte repeated her arguments in her previously filed motion now that she may rely on the Supreme Court’s latest decision denying the prosecution’s appeal.

“Accused Uriarte may now rely on the factual findings in said Decision to justify the immediate grant of bail to her. Hence the instant motion, which she is filing with leave of court, and which she asks be admitted and acted upon immediately,” her motion read.

Uriarte said the court may rule on her motion for bail even though she has yet to present physicians to convince the court of her medical condition and place her under house arrest.

“It is respectfully submitted that the Honorable Court may immediately resolve the instant Supplemental Motion for Immediate Grant of Bail even prior to its reception of the testimony of accused Uriarte’s physicians relative to the matter of her medical conditions,” her motion read.

Uriarte had pleaded the Sandiganbayan to place her under house arrest at her residence in Barangay Paligsahan, Quezon City for six to 10 months or during the period she would undergo chemotherapy or surgery.

READ: Arroyo co-accused in PCSO case seeks house arrest

She said she was diagnosed by her doctor with tumor in her breast and she asked for house confinement due to “medical and humanitarian considerations.”

She added that her detention cell at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) would not allow her to take adequate rest after chemotherapy and would expose her to infection.

Uriarte said her home is close to St. Luke’s Medical Center, which would allow her to be rushed to the hospital in case of complications.

But the anti-graft court said Uriarte’s motion has no merit and that she failed to convince the court that the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City and the NBI could not provide her medical needs while she is under detention.

The court said Uriarte’s medical condition is at present being attended to by St. Luke’s Medical Center, where she is confined.

“Her apprehensions of complications from the treatment which she claims can be best addressed in the confines and comfort of her home are general possibilities and concerns once she is discharged from the hospital,” the court said.

The court said Uriarte failed to convince the court that the NBI and the St. Luke’s Medical Center are ill-equipped posing a great risk to her life that would warrant her house arrest.

“Indeed, considering that accused Uriarte submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court only after four years despite knowledge of the present case against her negates her contention that she is not a flight risk,” the court said.

Uriarte was one of the two who surfaced after the Supreme Court dismissed the plunder case of Arroyo and Aguas for lack of evidence and released the two from detention.

Ma. Fatima Valdez, a PCSO board member, also surfaced and was arraigned Oct. 27 last year for plunder. Her case was later dismissed by the Sandiganbayan after the latter granted her demurrer to evidence.

READ: Arroyo’s co-accused surrenders, pleads not guilty to plunder | Another GMA co-accused in PCSO plunder case acquitted 

Uriarte and Valdez face more legal woes, after the Ombudsman prosecutors filed graft and breach of ethical conduct charges against them for allegedly receiving an all-expense paid trip to Australia in exchange for a joint venture agreement.

READ: Ex-PCSO execs charged for taking all-expense paid trip after deal

The plunder cases of the following PCSO officials were earlier dismissed by the Sandiganbayan: board officials Manuel Morato, Raymundo Roquero, Jose Taruc V, and former Commission on Audit head Reynaldo Villar.

Meanwhile, former PCSO board chairman Sergio Valencia’s plunder charge was downgraded to malversation.

Arroyo walked free from four years of hospital detention last July after the Supreme Court junked Arroyo’s plunder case for insufficiency of evidence.

READ: SC junks remaining Arroyo plunder case, sets her free

The plunder charge filed against Arroyo involved allegedly diverting P366 million in Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office intelligence funds intended for charity use for her personal gain during her term as president from 2008 to 2010.

The high court said Arroyo’s approval of the P366 million intelligence fund releases were only ministerial and did not constitute an “overt act” to commit plunder. JE/rga

READ: SC: Arroyo OK on fund release not overt act of plunder