GMA cleared in one plunder case

MANILA, Philippines - Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been cleared of plunder charges for the sale of prime land near the old Iloilo airport during her administration.

A resolution of the Department of Justice (DOJ) obtained by The STAR has recommended the dismissal of the complaint filed by tax informant Danilo Lihay-lihay over the sale of the P1-billion property to Megaworld Corp. in 2007.

The investigating panel chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong said the complaint lacked probable cause to warrant the indictment of Arroyo for plunder.

The findings were approved by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano.

The DOJ still refused to make public the resolution, which they forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman for review.

The STAR learned that the case folder was returned to the DOJ on Thursday last week since it lacked an important signature.

The missing signature was already filled up and the records were again sent to the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday.

Lihay-lihay, president of Philippine Association of Revenue Investigators, alleged in his complaint that government’s sale of over P1-billion worth of prime land near the former Iloilo airport to Megaworld was illegal, as the law bars private entities from “acquiring any kind of alienable land of the public domain.”

Also named respondents in the case were former foreign affairs secretary Alberto Romulo, Megaworld Corp. owner Andrew Tan, former finance secretary Margarito Teves and former Finance Privatization Council head John Sevilla.

Romulo, Tan and Sevilla already filed counter-affidavits in earlier hearings.

The DOJ panel has set the next hearing on Oct. 18 for the submission of defense of Teves.

The DOJ dismissed the allegations and gave weight to the denial of Arroyo in her counter-affidavit filed in October last year.

Arroyo said that the complaint should have been dismissed outright since it clearly “does not show on its face that the offense of plunder has been committed.”

“I did not sell the existing Iloilo airport, which obviously did not belong to me, but to the national government, but only authorized its disposition through an asset disposition program,” Arroyo told the DOJ through lawyer former justice minister Estelito Mendoza.

“I did not myself sell any asset and, consequently, no income can be imputed to me.

“The sale or disposition of the Iloilo airport was done through the corresponding agencies of the government which, as previously emphasized being part of the government, are not subject to payment of capital gains tax.”

Mendoza said Lihay-lihay’s complaint is “completely baseless” and “absurd” since it does not constitute basic elements needed for a plunder case: accumulation, acquisition and amassing of ill-gotten wealth by a public official.

Arroyo’s only participation in the sale is when she signed Executive Order 360, which paved the way for the asset disposition program or sale of the property, he added.

The actual sale was implemented by other officials, he said.

Mendoza believes the complainant did not allege plunder but violation of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), which is for the Bureau of Internal Revenue to investigate, not the DOJ.

“The complaint suggests a plainly absurd theory in that the nonpayment of taxes is a theft of public funds and a crime of plunder through malversation of funds,” he said. “Even assuming a capital gains tax was due and not paid, such nonpayment would not constitute the offense of plunder but a violation of the NIRC.”

The complaint of Lihay-lihay is one of three plunder charges against Arroyo pending with the DOJ. It was one of the primary reasons why the DOJ had placed her in the Immigration watchlist.

Sandigan: DOJ cannot charge Arroyo

The Office of the Ombudsman, not the DOJ, has the authority to file plunder, graft and other criminal cases against Arroyo, according to the Sandiganbayan.

Renato Bocar, the anti-graft court’s executive clerk of court and spokesman, said under Republic Act 6770, the anti-graft agency has “primary jurisdiction over cases cognizable by the Sandiganbayan.”

However, Bocar told The STAR he has instructed the docket section of the anti-graft court to “receive” any complaint if from the DOJ.

The case will be referred to the Office of the Presiding Justice for proper disposition, he added.

The Office of the Ombudsman’s Rules of Procedure “expressly provide that no information may be filed without the written authority or approval of the Ombudsman in cases falling within the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan,” Bocar said.

On Tuesday, media advisories through text messages circulated that the DOJ will be filing a plunder case against Arroyo before the anti-graft court.

Arroyo’s lawyer described the supposed misinformation campaign as “black propaganda” which was launched the same day that the Supreme Court (SC) issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against a DOJ watchlist order to prevent her from leaving the country.

The DOJ is investigating a number of plunder cases against Arroyo.

It is now being criticized for allegedly delaying preliminary investigation against Arroyo and for issuing a watchlist order instead of finishing its probe and filing cases in court, which can issue a hold departure order.

The SC, on Tuesday, allowed Arroyo and former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo to leave the country to seek medical treatment abroad.

Devanadera to be arraigned

Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman has asked the Sandiganbayan to dismiss the motion for another reinvestigation of former justice secretary Agnes Devanadera and arraign her for graft and malversation.

Prosecutors said Devanadera has already been given all the opportunity to defend herself during the preliminary investigation.

Assistant Special Prosecutors Joefferson Toribio and Lyn Dimayuga said the latest motion of Devanadera and her co-respondent Rolando Faller should be dismissed for lack of merit.

They said Devanadera and her co-respondent should not be allowed another reinvestigation since the Sandiganbayan has already given them the chance to file a motion for reconsideration of the Office of the Ombudsman’s resolution finding probable cause to indict them in court.

Citing the Rules of Procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman, they said that “only one motion for reconsideration or reinvestigation of an approved order or resolution shall be allowed.”

Toribio and Dimayuga said Devanadera’s and Faller’s claims that the amended information filed against them after their motion for reconsideration was dismissed should be a basis for another reinvestigation are wrong.

“An examination of the proposed amended informations will clearly demonstrate that they do not contain any matter which have not been previously raised against the accused-movants,” they said.

“All told, accused-movants miserably failed to establish any valid ground for this Court to grant the reliefs prayed for in their instant motion and are seemingly trying to just delay the prosecution of these cases.”

Devanadera and her head executive assistant Faller are accused of receiving P100,000 and P30,000 “for the purchase of reading materials to aid them in the discharge of their functions” in February 2007 when Devanadera was government corporate counsel.

An investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman showed that no such purchases were made because the check issued by the Land Bank of the Philippines was eventually deposited to Devanadera’s personal account. Faller allegedly encashed the check.

Devanadera also allegedly received P500,000 and Faller P200,000 in attorneys’ fees from the special assessment fee of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) in violation of the Administrative Code and Office of the Government Corporate Counsel Order No. 0006. – Edu Punay, Michael Punongbayan