Sandigan urged to free GMA

MANILA, Philippines - A Catholic archbishop urged yesterday the Sandiganbayan to free detained former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and “let justice prevail over the plunder case filed against her.”

In a statement titled “A Call for Justice, Mercy and Compassion,” Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles said the anti-graft court should set aside political pressure and just resolve the case of the 67-year-old Arroyo based on the evidence presented.

“We appeal to them (Sandiganbayan justices) to weigh the issues wisely and impartially, with no regard for partisan pressure of any kind, especially if that pressure carries the full might of the state against a solitary individual,” Arguelles said.

Arroyo, afflicted with a degenerative bone disease, is detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City on allegations that she led a conspiracy to pocket confidential funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

Former PCSO officials Sergio Valencia, Rosario Uriarte, Manuel Morato, Raymundo Roquero, Fatima Valdes, Jose Taruc, Benigno Aguas, and former Commission on Audit chairman Reynaldo Villar and COA official Nilda Plaras were also charged with plunder.

Arguelles said based on reports on the hearings conducted on the case, no evidence was presented to show that Arroyo received any money from the PCSO and the same was duly audited and cleared by the COA.

He noted that the Sandiganbayan granted bail to Arroyo’s co-accused as the evidence against them was not strong while Arroyo, who merely approved the allocation as required of her by law being then the president, was kept in detention.

He expressed belief that her continued detention despite the lack of evidence may be part of the Aquino administration’s “obsessive anger” towards her.

“This obsessive anger explains why the President went so far as to defy the Supreme Court no less, three years ago, when he prevented Mrs. Arroyo from seeking medical treatment abroad for a life-threatening condition: the intrusion of a misplaced metal plate behind her neck into her breathing and eating tubes,” Arguelles said.