Arroyo faces 3rd plunder suit

Alyansa ng Pag-asa senatorial candidate Frank Chavez filed before the Ombudsman yesterday what he called the "first of a series of plunder cases" against President Arroyo for allegedly diverting P728 million in agricultural funds to bankroll her campaign for the May 10 elections.

"Enough is enough. Our National Treasury has been looted. They cannot convert public funds to private reserves. They are supposed to go to farmers. But the funds went to governors and mayors who are associated with the administration," Chavez, a former solicitor general, told reporters.

But at Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye welcomed the charges as a chance for the opposition’s "allegations of fraud and other illegal activities" to be "judicially examined."

"We’re prepared to answer all these allegations in a proper forum. As you know, we have issued this challenge to the detractors of the President and this will be answered at the appropriate time," he said.

Chavez promised to file two more suits within the week, but he refused to divulge details.

His case yesterday was the third plunder case filed against Mrs. Arroyo. The first was filed by a fellow Alyansa senatorial candidate, lawyer Melanio Mauricio Jr. But it was thrown out after Mauricio failed to prove the President had a direct hand in the reported bailout of debt-ridden Maynilad.

Chavez’s complaint is similar to that filed by former Land Transportation Office chief Mariano Santiago, who accused Mrs. Arroyo of using the P1.6-billion road users’ tax as part of her campaign war chest.

"The funds at issue are public funds. The farmers never received the money. Farm inputs were never delivered. It was a ploy or subterfuge designed to plunder taxpayers’ money to pursue her presidential candidacy," Chavez explained.

Saying that he was doing it "on my own and as a taxpayer," Chavez cleared Alyansa standard-bearer former senator Raul Roco, who has already conceded to Mrs. Arroyo, of any involvement in the filing of the case.

Named as co-respondents in the plunder case were Budget and Management Secretary Emilia Boncodin, undersecretary Mario Relampagos and Nora Oliveros, whom Chavez wants "summoned."

Chavez found the timing of the fund release questionable. "The funds were released on May 3, a week before the elections," he said. But Bunye insisted that any fund release would be for the benefit of those that need it most, the poor. — With Marichu Villanueva