The Sandiganbayan has denied the pleas of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal and three co-accused to dismiss the plunder case against them but cleared four others in the case.
In a resolution dated April 6, the graft court turned down the demurrers to evidence that Arroyo and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) budgets and accounts manager Benigno Aguas had filed, separately seeking the dismissal of the case over for lack of evidence.
The graft court also denied the demurrer to evidence of former PCSO Board Chairman Sergio Valencia, saying that the prosecution, “although unable to sufficiently prove plunder, was able to present sufficient evidence for malversation.”
On the other hand, the graft court granted the demurrers to evidence of four others in the case and thus acquitted them. The four are former Commission of Audit (COA) Chairman Reynaldo Villar and former PCSO board members Manuel Morato, Raymund Roquero, and Jose Taruc V.
In its decision on Villar, Morato, Roquero, and Taruc, the Sandigan said, “Simply put, there is no sufficient evidence on record that the directors herein diverted any PCSO funds to themselves, that they raided the public treasury by conveying and transferring into their possession and control any money or funds from PCSO account, and therefore, these demurrers must be granted.”
The resolution was penned by Associate Justice Rafael Lagos and concurred by First Division Chairman Efren dela Cruz and Associate Justice Napoleon Inoturan.
Since the demurrers to evidence filed by Arroyo, Aguas, and Valencia were rejected, their lawyers will be required to present evidence in their defense during the trial, First Division Clerk of Court Atty. Estela Teresita Rosete said.
Mrs. Arroyo and her co-accused are charged with having accumulated P365,997,915 from 2008 to 2010 by diverting the PCSO’s Confidential/Intelligence Fund (CIF).
The other co-accused are former PCSO Vice Chairman and General Manager Rosario Uriarte, former PCSO board member Ma. Fatima Valdes, and the COA’s former CIFAudit Unit head Nilda Plaras.
Manila Bulletin
