Another Arroyo co-accused in PCSO plunder case surrenders

A co-accused of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the P300-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) plunder case has surrendered to authorities, a report on GMA News' “24 Oras” said Friday. Raymundo Roquero, erstwhile PCSO board member, turned himself in to members of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Friday afternoon, the report said. PAOCC officers met with Roquero, also a former secretary general of the political party Lakas-Kampi-CMD, in a Quezon City restaurant before he was brought to Camp Crame, the main headquarters of the Philippine National Police. Roquero and Arroyo were respondents in the plunder case filed before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the alleged misuse of more than P300 million in PCSO funds during the Arroyo administration. Also accused were former PCSO chairman Manoling Morato and former PCSO vice chair and general manager Rosario Uriarte. Both Arroyo and Morato are currently on hospital arrest in connection with the case. The plunder complaint was filed with the Ombudsman by Jaime Regalario, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and former Army general Danilo Lim on July 26, 2011. They accused the respondents of performing “various acts" to "surreptitiously divert” public funds, amounting to P366 million, sourced from PCSO’s operating budget “for personal gain." Two other co-accused—former PCSO general manager Sergio Valencia and former PCSO assistant general manager for finance Benigno Aguas—had turned themselves in last October. Another former PCSO official implicated in the case, Jose Taruc V, has already signified his intention to yield, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). — Gian C. Geronimo/KBK, GMA News