SC affirms junking of PCSO plunder case vs Arroyo

MANILA, Philippines —Voting 11-4, the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ruled with finality and affirmed its earlier decision to dismiss the plunder case against Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former president.

The 11 justices gave their final nod to clear Arroyo from the plunder case in connection with her alleged misuse of the intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and dismissed the government’s appeal for lack of merit. The same decision led to her release from detention at the Veterans' Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City in July 2016.

The plunder case stemmed from charges filed by the Office of the Ombudsman for Arroyo's alleged diversion of P366 million in the PCSO's intelligence funds for personal gain between 2008 and 2010. This case was also investigated by the Senate blue ribbon committee.

Among the 11 magistrates who gave their favorable votes were the Duterte-appointed Associate Justices Samuel Martires and Noel Tijam.

Other justices who previously gave their concurring opinions are Justices Presbitero Velasco, Jr. Diosdado Peralta, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Lucas Bersamin, Jose Mendoza, Mariano Castillo, Bienvenido Reyes, Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Francis Jardeleza.

Retired Associate Justices Jose Perez and Arturo Brion also submitted their concurring opinions in July 2016.

The final ruling had the same dissenters: Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, and Justices Marvic Mario Victor Leonen and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.

Arroyo had been under hospital arrest since 2012 because of the plunder case. However, after the SC ordered her immediate release, she left her hospital detention by July 21, 2016 and returned to work at the House of Representatives.