Mike Arroyo asks Sandigan to return graft case to Ombudsman

MANILA, Philippines - Former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo asked the Sandiganbayan yesterday to order that the police helicopter graft case filed against him be returned to the Office of the Ombudsman.

In a pleading filed by lawyer Edna Batacan, Arroyo said the Ombudsman filed the complaint prematurely because he still has a right to question the decision or seek a reversal of the same through a motion for reconsideration. 

Arroyo said the Office of the Ombudsman’s resolution finding probable cause to indict him before the Sandiganbayan was dated May 30 and filed on June 6.

Since he only received an official copy of the ruling five days later on June 11, under the rules he has five days to appeal the resolution.

Arroyo said the Sandiganbayan Second Division should remand the case back to the Office of the Ombudsman for the preliminary investigation process to be completed.

The STAR tried but failed to reach Assistant Ombudsman and spokesperson Asryman Rafanan for comment.

But under the rules of procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman as earlier explained by officials, the filing of a motion for reconsideration by a respondent in a case does not bar the anti-graft agency from filing the complaint with the Sandiganbayan.

Arroyo, along with 21 others including former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Jesus Verzosa, was charged for alleged involvement in the anomalous purchase of two overpriced second-hand helicopters that were passed off as brand-new units in 2009.

The Raven helicopters owned by the former first gentleman were passed off as new and sold at a high price to the PNP, thereby resulting in loss or waste of public funds.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales approved on June 1 to indict 19 retired and active police officers led by Verzosa and former deputy director general for operations Jefferson Soriano, and Hilario de Vera, president of the PNP supplier Manila Aerospace Products Trading Corp. (Maptra).

Arroyo, husband of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and the others were accused of conspiring in the fraudulent sale of three used choppers to the PNP for P104.99 million in separate transactions in 2009 and 2010.

Graft investigators said Maptra had no technical and financial eligibility to undertake the supply contract in 2009 because its previous biggest deal was only worth P15.3 million.

The PNP bought two standard Robinson R44 Raven I helicopters and one fully equipped Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter through negotiated procurement from Maptra.

The Office of the Ombudsman found out that the two Raven I helicopters offered by Maptra were not brand new and did not conform to the specifications on endurance and ventilating system that the PNP set when it sought to buy helicopters.

Despite this, the PNP still bought the second-hand helicopters, which Arroyo owned, at brand new prices.

Arroyo has repeatedly denied the allegations, noting that he never had anything to do with the sale because he was not part of the family corporation – LTA Inc. – when the sale took place.

He claims that he was “maliciously implicated” in the alleged P62.6-million anomaly which forms part of “a politically motivated witch hunt against me and my family,” stressing that he had divested himself of any interest in LTA Inc. as early as March 2001, long before the sale took place.