Panel told: Make sure charges vs Arroyo are airtight
Sunday, November 6, 2011
THE joint Department of Justice (DOJ) and Commission on Elections (Comelec) panel should make sure it builds airtight cases in its investigation on alleged poll fraud in 2004 and 2007, a Senate leader said Sunday.
“The joint probe committee should build a very good case and make sure that when they charge people, they have enough evidence to convict,” Senate minority leader Alan Peter Cayetano said Sunday.
Last month, President Benigno Aquino III said he expects cases filed against his predecessor Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo by November.
Arroyo is a respondent in plunder and election fraud complaints and the panel has recommended a preliminary investigation of the electoral sabotage charges.
Cayetano said, however, that the panel should avoid working with undue haste.
“What’s one or two months more (of waiting) if the result is that we can charge the culprits with an iron-clad case? Let us make sure that we do not sacrifice content for speed,” he said.
Cayetano also reminded the joint panel to also go after “small fish” as it gathers evidence.
“I hope the DOJ and Comelec don’t sacrifice the quality of the evidence and the case by neglecting to go after the ‘small fish’ used by the ‘big fish’ to orchestrate the poll fraud,” he said.
Among those Cayetano wants the Comelec-DOJ panel to investigate are poll officials identified with the “Hello, Garci” scandal that Congress probed in 2005.
Cayetano criticized Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. in past months after the senator revealed officials tagged in the “Hello, Garci” scandal are still on the Comelec payroll.
“I’m hoping the Comelec chairman and his commissioners will act on this since the involvement of various Comelec officials in the 2004 electoral fraud were already made very evident as early as the first Senate poll fraud hearing,” he said.
He added that although he is satisfied with the ongoing Comelec-DOJ panel investigation — Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is on an Immigration watch list after the panel recommended her for preliminary investigation — the panel must make sure the case against her is strong.
A preliminary investigation comes after a complaint is filed but before formal charges are brought to court.
Also put on the watchlist because of the panel’s recommendation for preliminary investigation are former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos
Sr., former Comelec commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, former Justice secretary Alberto Agra, and former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.
Charges will end watch list controversy
But for Senator Francis Escudero, the DOJ should file formal charges against Arroyo to end the debate on travel restrictions on the former President.
Arroyo is on an Immigration watch list over plunder and election sabotage complaints lodged against her. The Immigration bureau will bar her from leaving the country without clearance from the DOJ, a fact that her allies have decried violates her rights to life and health.
Allies of the Aquino administration have questioned Arroyo’s motives for seeking medical treatment abroad for hypoparathyroidism. Senator Francis Pangilinan asked why Arroyo wants to fly to at least five countries in her allegedly frail state. Senator Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, has voiced suspicions at Arroyo’s request to fly to countries without extradition treaties with the Philippines.
Escudero, in an interview over dzBB, said the controversy could be ended by filing formal charges in court. Under the law, a court can issue a hold-departure order against suspects who are considered flight risks.
Escudero, chairman of the Senate justice committee, has said a DOJ order giving the Justice secretary the authority to put people on a watch list and bar them from traveling abroad should be scrapped.
“It just so happened that GMA (Arroyo) is the target so it’s easier for our people to accept,” he said.
He said, however, that the same order can be used against other private individuals.
The senator wondered, however, why Arroyo’s lawyers have yet to bring the matter up with a court.
Arroyo’s camp can petition a court to issue an injunction on the watch list order, or ask the Supreme Court to rule the DOJ order unconstitutional.
Arroyo’s lawyer Raul Lambino has said they will bring the matter before the High Tribunal.
Elena Bautista-Horn, Arroyo’s spokesperson, said the Pampanga congresswoman has submitted all the requirements that the DOJ has asked for but that the Justice department has yet to act on the request. She added that although Arroyo’s condition is not serious, there is an “urgent” need for her to get her parathyroid checked.
She said there is no reason to wait for Arroyo’s health to deteriorate before letting her fly abroad.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, on state-run Radyo ng Bayan, said Sunday that the Arroyos will have to wait for Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s decision on the request.
“It is just a matter of a few days,” she said.
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/11/06/panel-told-make-sure-charges-vs-arroyo-are-airtight-189048
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