Ombudsman drops 2004 election bribery case vs. Gloria, others 

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales on Wednesday dismissed the bribery charge against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the 2004 Presidential Elections.

 

“For insufficiency of evidence, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales dismissed the criminal charges against former President and incumbent Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) and six other respondents who allegedly, in conspiracy, committed bribery… during the May 2004 elections,” the Office of the Ombudsman said in a statement released Wednesday.

 

The bribery complaint filed by Pacasirang Batidor, Ahmare Balt Lucman, Hadji Rashid Limbona and Hadji Abdullah D. Dalidig last August charged Mrs. Arroyo and six others of bribing election officers in Lanao Del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato City during the 2004 National Polls.

 

Aside from the former President, the other respondents were former Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, former Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director-general and Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) general manger Alfonso Cusi, PPA manager Efren Ballozos, former Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, former Shariah Circuit Court Judge Nagamura Moner, and former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

 

“The complaint alleges, among other things, that the respondents, during the 2004 May elections… distributed envelopes containing money to unidentified election officers, in perpetuation of the alleged electoral fraud,” the statement read.

 

Still, the Ombudsman was not convinced citing that there was no sufficient evidence to support the complaint.

 

“The complaint contains bare allegations and pieces of evidence that are unsubscribed, unauthenticated and recanted affidavits or statements,” the Ombudsman noted in a 43-page resolution, according to the statement.

 

“[The Ombudsman] cannot engender a well-founded belief that the crimes have been committed and that the accused are probably guilty thereof and should stand trial,” the statement said.

 

The Ombudsman noted that the recipient of the bribe should be a public officer, however, “in the present case, nothing of that sort appears.”

 

“In fact, as already intimated, the supposed recipients of the bribe were not named or sufficiently identified… for conspiracy to exist, two or more persons must come to an agreement concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it,” it added.

 

Arroyo, now Pampanga representative, is under hospital arrest at Veterans Memorial Medical Center since last September. She is facing an election sabotage case connected to the mid-term elections in 2007. —RRD/VS, GMA News