NOY: ALL 4 CASES VS. GMA IN THE WORKS; HE DECLINED FURTHER DETAILS
MANILA, JULY 5, 2011 (MALAYA) BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR - Aquino: We'll see how far probes will take us.
PRESIDENT Aquino yesterday said at least four cases, including those related to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office fund mess, have been readied against former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo and officials of her administration.
He declined to give details.
"I cannot tell you. Siyempre, preparing the case, naghahanda ka ng witnesses, naghahanda ka ng documentation. If I say ganito, then that makes the difficulties of the investigators even much harder," Aquino said.
Asked if the case was specifically against Arroyo, the President said it will be, "assuming that the evidence gets to that level."
Aquino said the cases involved "a broad spectrum of personalities" and the PCSO issue is just one of the four cases.
He added that he is not sure if the case would eventually reach prosecution or if it would be the first case that would be filed against his predecessor.
"The Executive is building up several cases. So which one will reach fruition is a question mark…There are three actually in my mind right now. The case (of the PCSO) is the fourth," he said but also declined to say what the three other cases are.
Aquino also said the Department of Justice would review a report of the Commission on Audit that said at least seven Catholic bishops received cash and vehicle donations from the PCSO in 2008 and 2009.
"They will evaluate if there is enough basis for prosecution. May mga COA findings for instance. So there will be a formal investigation toward that and then we will go where the evidence points us. Meaning, parang may kaso ba, may actionable ba, may lumagpas ba sa prescription period on specific cases? All of that has to be determined," he said.
Acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro has ordered a fact-finding investigation into Arroyo's alleged involvement in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam based on complaints filed by former solicitor general Francisco Chavez and peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.
The Office Ombudsman, in a statement issued yesterday, said Casimiro has overruled a recommendation of a panel of investigators recommending dismissal of the complaint against Arroyo for lack of evidence.
"It is an elementary principle that a secretary is an alter ego of the President who has direct control and supervision over Cabinet secretaries," the Ombudsman said, referring to former Agriculture Secretary Luis "Cito" Lorenzo and his undersecretary, Jocelyn "Joc Joc" Bolante who is said to be the architect of the fertilizer fund scam.
The Ombudsman last week ordered the filing of charges against Lorenzo, Bolante, and other former officials of the agriculture department involved in the scam.
Aquino said he wants to know the details of Casimiro's order but he should not comment "on something that is actually under the process already."
At the Sandiganbayan, plunder charges were filed yesterday against Lorenzo, Bolante, and former Agriculture assistant secretary Ibarra T. C. Poliquit. Also named were private defendants Jaime Paule, Marilyn Araos, Joselito Flordeliza, Marites Aytona, Jose Barredo and Leonicia Marco-Llarena – officials and employees of Feshan Philippine Inc., supplier of the allegedly overpriced liquid fertilizer bought with the fertilizer funds.
With the filing of the information, the motion filed by Bolante at the Supreme Court seeking to stop the Ombudsman's action has been rendered moot, said Renato Bocar, Sandiganbayan Executive clerk of court and spokesman.
The scam involved the alleged diversion of P728 million of the Department of Agriculture's Ginintuang Masaganang Ani program to the 2004 electoral campaign kitty of then President Arroyo.
'CHURCH PERSECUTION'
An official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines expressed belief that planned Senate inquiry into the PCSO fund scam could be one way to shame the prelates, some of whom have been critical of the administration in the previous weeks.
"It cannot be a particular person but ito ay pamamalakad. There are people, who want to bring down…bahagi na yan ng Church being persecuted," said Bishop Broderick Pabillo, chairman of the CBCP's National Secretariat for Social Action.
He refused to pinpoint the Aquino government as the one responsible for "persecuting" the CBCP.
"Alam niyo, hindi naman kay PNoy yan e. It can be part of an international conspiracy to bring down the Church in the Philippines," he said.
Asked whether it could be linked to the strong opposition of the CBCP to the reproductive health bill, Pabillo said believes it is part of it.
"Kaya nga ang tanong natin, bakit pinapayagan noon, tapos ngayon hindi na puwede?" said Pabillo referring to the long-standing practice of the PCSO giving donations to the Church.
Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes called the planned Senate probe "overkill."
"Why should we inquire of all those things na hindi naman ibinulsa ng mga obispo?" he said.
'MERELY ENDORSED'
Arroyo's son, Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado "Dato" Arroyo, one of 29 House members who reportedly received ambulances from the PCSO, said he "merely endorsed requests from my constituents for ambulances to the PCSO."
"To set the record straight, I never held any funds, items, or vehicles coming from the PCSO," he said.
Arroyo said also said any assistance from PCSO to the Bicol Medical Center went straight to the hospital "and did not pass through me or my office." – With Peter Tabingo, JP Lopez and Gerard Naval
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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