SC junks plunder case versus Gloria Arroyo

The Supreme Court En Banc has dismissed the plunder case against former President and re-elected Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in connection with the alleged misuse of P366-million in intelligence funds of state lottery firm Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

In a press briefing, SC spokesperson Ted Te said the En Banc in a vote of 11-4 ruled to dismiss the case due to the weak evidence presented by the prosecution team.

“Wherefore, the Court grants the petition for certiorari, annuls and set aside the resolutions issued in Criminal Case No. SB-12-CRM-0174 by the Sandigabayan on April 16 2015 and September 10, 2015…Grants the petitioners’ respective demurrers to evidence, dismisses Criminal Case No. SB-12-CRM-0174 as to the petitioners Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno Aguas for insufficiency of evidence,” Te said reading the dispositive portion of the ruling.

Aguas, the former PCSO budget and accounts manager, is the co-accused of Arroyo in the case.

Te said the SC En Banc orders Arroyo and Aguas’ “immediate release from detention."

Te said the SC En Banc voted 11-4 in Arroyo’s case and 10-5 in Aguas’ case.

Those who voted in favor of the dismissal of the case were:

• Justice Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr.
• Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro
• Justice Arturo D. Brion
• Justice Diosdado M. Peralta
• Justice Lucas P. Bersamin
• Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo
• Justice Jose P. Perez
• Justice Jose C. Mendoza
• Justice Bienvenido L. Reyes
• Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe
• Justice Francis H. Jardeleza

Those who dissented were:

• Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno
• Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio
• Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa
• Justice Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen

Te noted that all concerned "will have to wait for the decision."

He did not say when the ruling would ne served to the parties.

Te said the decision would be released along with separate dissenting opinions from Sereno and Leonen, a separate concurring opinion from Justice Arturo Brion, and separate concurring and dissenting opinions, respectively, from Perlas-Bernabe.

"The decision will be served on counsels and the counsels will know what to do from there," he told reporters at the briefing.

Arroyo has been under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City since 2012 in connection with the plunder case.

It was in October 2015, when Arroyo’s camp filed a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court asking for the reversal of the Sandiganbayan First Division’s rulings denying her petition for bail as well as her demurrer to evidence.

In her demurrer to evidence, Mrs. Arroyo was seeking the dismissal of the case halfway through the trial based on the supposed weak evidence of the prosecution.

Following Mrs. Arroyo’s filing of her petition for certiorari, the high court ordered Sandiganbayan First Division to temporarily halt the trial of the case until the petition was resolved.

"Thank God. They took away six years of her life-- an innocent woman," former first gentleman Mike Arroyo said in a text message.

Malacañang, meanwhile, urged concerned parties to respect the decision of the court.

“The Supreme Court has spoken...Let us respect and abide by the High Court’s decision,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement.—with Elizabeth Marcelo, Rose-an Jessica Dioquino, Xianne Arcangel and Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez/NB/ALG, GMA News