Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales yesterday expressed dismay over the decision of the Supreme Court dropping the P366-million plunder complaint against former President Gloria M. Arroyo for insufficiency, or lack of evidence.
She told a hastily called press conference that she will file a motion for reconsideration to reverse the decision of the members of high tribunal who voted 11 to 4 in favor of Arroyo.
The anti-graft czar said she could not comment much about the SC decision because her office has yet to receive a copy of the decision.
Offhand, Morales said she cannot explain the reason why the SC decided against their complaint when the evidence presented against Arroyo for ransacking the funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) was overwhelming.
She noted that even the Sandiganbayan had appreciated the the presentation of their complaint, prompting the latter to deny four times the request for bail by Ms. Arroyo.
According to Morales, the congresswoman from Pampanga is not yet off the hook as Ombudsman investigators and prosecutors are finalizing their preliminary investigation on the same case.
She stressed that case under preliminary probe cannot be considered a double jeopardy because it covers different years from 2004 to 2008 involving some P57 million.
The case against Ms. Arroyo which was dropped by the SC consisted of personally using some P366 million PCSO funds intended for charity and intelligence for the years 2009 to 2010. (Jun Ramirez)
