GMA on fraud raps: Talk to my lawyers

Manila, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo finally arrived yesterday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), ending speculations as to whether she would come back to face various criminal charges filed against her, including two plunder complaints.

“Just talk to my lawyers,” Arroyo told reporters waiting for her at NAIA, in reference to allegations that she had a hand in anomalies uncovered in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). 

Arroyo, who was accompanied by her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and nine others, arrived at 8:55 a.m. onboard KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ flight 803 from Amsterdam and greeted the waiting journalists “good morning.”

However, she declined to answer questions on the latest allegations of corruption and electoral fraud against her.

“We have a spokesman,” Arroyo told reporters when asked about the latest graft allegations against her involving the use of PCSO funds for Catholic bishops.

The Arroyo couple was whisked away by security aides to an elevator that took them to a waiting convoy of sport utility vehicles and

sedans, radio reports said.

Her aides said she would proceed first to her house in La Vista, Quezon City and then go to her district in Pampanga yesterday or today to meet her constituents.

Atty. Raul Lambino, Arroyo’s legal spokesman, said the former leader called him up shortly after her arrival and thanked him for his defense of her.

He said she would be meeting with him and her other legal counsels, including Estelito Mendoza, today or early next week.

“She called me up and thanked me. I asked her how she was doing, and she said she was okay. I told her to rest because it was a long flight because I got the impression that she wanted to work,” Lambino said.

GMA will face all charges

Lambino reiterated that Arroyo will face all the criminal charges filed against her by allies of the Aquino administration, which he said, is resorting to a media campaign to stoke up public anger against her while at the same time diverting the people’s attention to the failures of the government.

“She (Arroyo) is going to face and answer all these charges, but in the proper forum,” Lambino said, adding all the complaints against her were baseless.

He said the vilification campaign was connected to the approaching State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25 where President Aquino would be hard-pressed to present concrete achievements after one year in office.

Earlier, militant lawmakers filed a plunder complaint against Arroyo before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly misusing P325 million in intelligence funds of the PCSO.

They are also seeking a congressional inquiry into her alleged involvement in cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections in Mindanao.

A plunder complaint was also filed against her before the Department of Justice in connection with the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, and another, tagging her as responsible for various human rights violations during her nine-year administration.

House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said Aquino has turned the entire government machinery into “one wrecking crew” just to get back at leaders of the previous administration.

“If your marching order is to dig up dirt to use against your enemies, instead of finding ways to improve the lives of Filipinos, you will self-destruct,” Suarez said in a telephone interview.

“Imagine all the time and public resources to be spent on that one objective alone. And the people’s attention is turned to these issues, so the national attention is on these issues, not the real urgent problems that we must address collectively,” he said.

Suarez said the administration has “perfected the machinery” of attacking Arroyo since the presidential campaign.

“They know that if you hit GMA you will be on the headlines,” he said.

The Arroyos left the country last June 29 for an undisclosed destination in Europe via Amsterdam and were expected to return last July 14, but a source said they made a side trip to Lourdes in France before taking their flight back to Manila yesterday.

Former PCSO chairperson Rosario Uriarte earlier revealed that she personally requested intelligence funds from then president Arroyo who approved it.

The former leader, however, was cool in the face of these recent developments and unfazed by the revelations of former Maguindanao election official Lintang Bedol on the alleged cheating she orchestrated in the 2004 and 2007 elections, according to Lambino.

“What is clear is that the former president did not talk to him (Bedol) and what he’s saying are all hearsay. This is basic in the rules of evidence, so these statements would not be accepted in court,” Lambino added.