Ex-PCSO official granted P1-M bail in plunder case

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan granted bail to a former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) executive accused of plunder along with former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In a decision issued yesterday, the anti-graft court said former PCSO board member Jose Taruc V may be released from detention after he pays a P1-million bond.

Taruc pleaded not guilty to the plunder charge on March 20, three days after he voluntarily surrendered to the Philippine National Police.

He immediately asked the Sandiganbayan to also grant him bail, like former PCSO general manager Sergio Valencia and former board members Manuel Morato and Raymundo Roquero.

The Sandiganbayan has junked a similar request for bail filed by Arroyo and budget and accounts manager Benigno Aguas.

Arroyo’s lawyers have again asked the Sandiganbayan to grant her bail.

“She is frail and think and weak and is in constant need of medical attention. She cannot flee to the hills. She cannot flit from one hiding place to another in the dead of night. She cannot – and will not – live life on the run,” a 12-page reply to the comment or opposition by the prosecution to a supplemental motion for reconsideration filed before the anti-graft court read.

The Sandiganbayan’s First Division, which denied the main petition for bail and also the motion for reconsideration filed after such ruling was issued, is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the latest pleading on April 10.

Arroyo, now on hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, is being tried for plunder for her alleged role in the misuse of PCSO confidential and intelligence funds from 2008 to 2010.