‘All was set for Arroyo conviction’

MANILA, Philippines – Former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the poster girl in the presidential campaign of candidate Benigno Aquino III in 2010.

From electoral sabotage to plunder, a string of cases was filed against her during the term of Aquino, who stood pat on a platform of accountability for alleged anomalies in the Arroyo administration.

The plunder case in the P366-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) fund anomaly before the Sandiganbayan was all that was left of the corruption cases against the former president before it was dismissed by the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday.

But a former official of the Aquino administration revealed to The STAR that everything had been set for the conviction of Arroyo by the First Division of the anti-graft court supposedly before Aquino would step down last June 30.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to sensitivity of the issue, bared that Aquino was even set to appoint a Sandiganbayan magistrate to the SC as a reward for the conviction of Arroyo, whom he consistently blamed for government problems inherited by his administration.

The insider said the justice is one of the members of the First Division of the anti-graft court that handled Arroyo’s case and a known member of a religious sect.

“(Aquino’s) sixth and last appointment in the SC was reserved for (the Sandiganbayan justice) as some sort of reward if only the conviction was carried out before his term ended,” the source explained.

Such appointment would not have been the first as Arroyo herself had appointed to the SC the Sandiganbayan justices who convicted deposed president Joseph Estrada in his plunder case.

But before the Sandiganbayan could move to convict Arroyo, the high court intervened and issued a status quo ante order in October last year stopping the proceedings on the plunder case upon Arroyo’s petition.

Arroyo’s trial has since been halted with the high court even ordering the Sandiganbayan to forward all records of the case last May.

Prior to the SC decision junking the PCSO plunder case and ordering Arroyo’s release from detention, the high court has already granted Arroyo’s pleas for several furloughs.

Last December, the SC granted the ailing former leader a holiday furlough and allowed her to spend Christmas and New Year with her family in their house in La Vista Subdivision in Quezon City.

In March, the high tribunal also allowed her to celebrate her 69th birthday with her family in the same residence last April 5.

For the third time, the SC granted relief to Arroyo earlier this month and allowed her to vote in her home province in Pampanga during elections last May 9 and also granted her plea to undergo dental procedures for four days at the clinic of her dentist in Makati City.

Meanwhile, Arroyo’s husband, former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, immediately welcomed the SC ruling.

“The Supreme Court has once again proven itself to be the final bastion of justice and the rule of law. Its ruling today has validated what we have been saying for six years now: that the charges against former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo are nothing more than disingenuous attempts at political persecution by a corrupt and inept Aquino administration intent on covering up its gross lack of accomplishments by harassing its political opponents,” he said in a statement.

Mr. Arroyo thanked their lawyers and supporters “who have shown unwavering loyalty to president Arroyo and the Arroyo and Macapagal families in their hour of deepest darkness, through the trials brought about by unrelenting prosecution and defamation perpetrated by the previous regime.”

“The dawn of a new administration has brought about new hope for great positive change, which includes freedom from false and malicious accusations and unceasing lies and disinformation. We all join the new government in its fight against criminality, corruption and its economic and political reforms that will surely usher in a new golden age for our country and people,” he added, referring to the administration of President Duterte.