Mike A to present self before Sandigan today for travel permit to Japan, HK

MANILA, Philippines - Former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo will present himself before another Sandiganbayan court today to ask for permission to travel to Japan and Hong Kong from June 16 to 21.

“We are confident that it will be granted,” Arroyo’s lawyer Ferdinand Topacio told The STAR in an interview yesterday after filing a very urgent motion for leave to travel abroad.

He said Arroyo is willing to undergo conditional arraignment and post a travel bond so that his request would be approved.

Topacio is hoping that the Sandiganbayan Second Division will act swiftly on the motion considering that Arroyo is already scheduled to leave on Saturday.

The anti-graft court’s Fourth Division, where Arroyo is facing graft charges for his alleged involvement in the national broadband network (NBN) project anomaly in 2007, had earlier granted his request to travel abroad.

However, the Office of the Ombudsman filed another case against him last week this time for his supposed role in the purchase of second-hand but still overpriced helicopters by the Philippine National Police (PNP) in 2009.

Arroyo now needs the approval of the Sandiganbayan Second Division that is handling the second case, for a separate travel permit with the same assurance that he will return to the country to face trial.

Topacio jokingly said that he is still willing to bet his balls that his client will not flee, believing that the prosecution need not ask for more time to file an opposition since they have already expressed their positions when they tried to block the first travel permit.

“They’ve already said whatever it is they had to say,” he told The STAR, expressing optimism that the hold departure order (HDO) against Arroyo will be temporarily lifted.

Arroyo is traveling to Edogawa-Ku, Tokyo, Japan for a meeting with the Filipino community there and to Hong Kong to attend to business matters related to their family corporation.