GMA presses for copy of plunder probe results

MANILA, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asked the Sandiganbayan yesterday to compel the Office of the Ombudsman to release a copy of its probe panel’s resolution dismissing plunder charges against her over the alleged misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office funds from 2008 to 2010.

Arroyo said the so-called Somido report, after Deputy Special Prosecutor Cornelio Somido, who headed the probe panel, “forms part of the records of the case.”

Her lawyers said the Somido report will form part of her defense, saying it is proof that there is neither probable cause on the crime of plunder nor evidence of her guilt to warrant her continuous detention.

Arroyo, through her defense counsels led by Anacleto Diaz, said Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales could not refuse the order of the Sandiganbayan to produce the report by saying it is a “disapproved draft containing privilege communication that is of no probative value.”

She added that the resolution was just the “personal view and opinion” of the panel members – director Mary Susan Guillermo and lawyers Joaquin Salazar, Nellie Golez and Roque Damian Dator and Somido.

Arroyo’s lawyers said Morales’ disapproval of the resolution means it was not a mere draft, that it has legal effect and is part of the records of preliminary investigation of the case.

“It is a collective, realistic judicial appraisal of the merits of the case based on the evidence adduced by the parties during the preliminary investigation,” they said.