Gloria Arroyo camp seeks dismissal of poll sabotage case

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of former president and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has asked a court in Pasay City to dismiss the case of electoral sabotage filed against her.

Arroyo’s demurrer to evidence filed by her lawyers, including Ferdinand Topacio, is now being reviewed, Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 112 officer-in-charge Dana Lyne Areola told The STAR yesterday.

A demurrer to evidence is filed after the prosecution rests its case and the defense camp is given the opportunity to move for the dismissal of the case.

The prosecution has also filed its comment on the demurrer to evidence, Areola said, adding the court’s presiding judge Jesus Mupas might already issue a resolution acting on the motion anytime soon.

If the demurrer to evidence by Arroyo is denied, the trial on her electoral sabotage case will continue and her camp must present witnesses.

Arroyo, along with former Maguindanao election officer Lintang Bedol, is undergoing trial for the electoral sabotage case filed against them before the Pasay City court in line with alleged cheating in the 2007 midterm election.

The same court dismissed similar charges slapped against former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. and the late Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Abalos could not be charged for lack of evidence, the court said, while Ampatuan – also implicated in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre – died of illness.

The hearing on the case has been going on for over seven years since it was filed in November 2011.

The court allowed Arroyo to post bail, despite electoral sabotage being a non-bailable charge, after the prosecution – the Department of Justice – failed to present strong evidence against her.