Gloria Arroyo calls for dismissal of plunder case
Lawyer says charge has already been acted upon
Manila: Former President Gloria Arroyo has told the justice department to dismiss the plunder case filed by former solicitor general Frank Chavez last April.
She said he had no basis in saying she wanted to get votes in the 2004 elections when she transferred P530 million (Dh45 million) funds from an agency for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to pay for the health insurance benefits of poor people.
The case was already dismissed by the Ombudsman in the past. "Once the Ombudsman has acted on a case, it can no longer be reviewed by the justice department. This [case] has no more legal procedural basis," said Arroyo's lawyer Benjamin Santos, who was with her when she filed her counter affidavit before Senior State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva yesterday.
Conflicting decision
"The [dismissal of the case] is to avoid the situation where the Ombudsman and the justice department will be coming up with a conflicting decision," the lawyer said, adding the dismissal of the case would be, ‘for the orderly administration of justice.'
The complaint filed by Chavez with the Office of the Ombudsman in July 2004 was already dismissed.
