As
if her troubles were not enough, former Philippine president and now Pampanga
Representative Gloria Arroyo will be slapped Tuesday with a civil case for her
alleged role in the gruesome Maguindanao (southern Philippines) massacre, a
lawyer of the victims said Monday.
Arroyo, who is under hospital arrest in Taguig
City on charges of electoral sabotage, is also facing plunder charges in the
Office of the Ombudsman.
A lawmaker and two other complainants said
that while Arroyo had been charged with electoral sabotage, there was still a
need to make her accountable for alleged acts of corruption during her
nine-year tenure in the Palace.
The three asked the Office of the Ombudsman on
Monday to immediately resolve the plunder case against Arroyo over the scuttled
US$329-million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal.
Harry Roque, who represents the kin of 13
media workers and two bystanders slain in the massacre on Nov. 23, 2009, said
his clients would ask the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to order the former
president to pay a total of 15 million pesos (US$346,000) in damages.
"We will file a civil case against her
for her complicity in the Maguindanao massacre. She is responsible for coddling
and abetting those behind the killings and for violating the rights of the
victims," Roque said in an interview.
The massacre claimed the lives of 58 people,
including 33 media workers, two years ago.
Ampatuans
The government has charged members of the
Ampatuan family—close allies of Arroyo when she was in power—and their
supporters for the massacre.
The killings in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao
province, is considered the worst election-related case of violence in the
country. The remains of the 58th victim have yet to be found.
The 33 media workers were part of a convoy
traveling with the wife of Esmael Mangudadatu who was going to file her
husband’s certificate of candidacy. Mangudadatu’s wife was accompanied by women
relatives and friends. They were all killed. Six other civilians who happened
to be passing by were also killed.
While planning to formally charge Arroyo,
Roque said his clients also vented their ire on President Benigno Aquino III
for reportedly saying that he expected the trial of the massacre case to go
beyond his term.
"The widows are really unhappy because he
is the President and they expected him to do everything within his power to
achieve justice in this case but, with his statement, he has thrown in the
towel or raised the white flag," Roque said.
He pointed out that the alleged election cheating
machine that the Arroyo administration had in Central Mindanao began to unravel
after the Maguindanao massacre.
Former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan
Sr., along with Arroyo and former Election Supervisor Lintang Bedol, had been
charged with electoral sabotage in the Pasay City Regional Trial Court.
Plunder
case
In the plunder complaint, also named
respondents were the husband of the former President, Jose Miguel Arroyo,
former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos; and former
Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza.
In an urgent motion to resolve the case, the
complainants—Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño, former Gabriela
Representative Liza Maza and Carol Araullo of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan—said
Arroyo could use the delays in filing cases against her to her advantage.
"We are witnesses on how delay in the
filing of an appropriate case could have almost allowed GMA (Arroyo) to leave
the country and escape liability from her illegal acts, had the Commission on
Elections not filed an electoral sabotage case," they said.
Arroyo tried last week to fly abroad for
medical treatment after the Supreme Court lifted the watch-list order against
her, but she was stopped from leaving by immigration officials on orders of
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.
Before Arroyo could attempt to leave again,
the Pasay City Regional Trial Court ordered her arrest for electoral sabotage.
Not
enough
The complainants in the plunder case also said
that although Arroyo was facing a criminal charge, this was not enough.
"There is still a need for the filing of
information from cases like the corruption charges in the NBN-ZTE
transaction," they said.
Casiño, Maza and Araullo said the “people have
waited for years for the respondents to face these charges.”
They also asked the Office of the Ombudsman
not to grant any request from Arroyo for additional time to respond to the
complaint, saying she had been granted an extension earlier.
If Arroyo failed to file her response at the
proper time, she should be deemed to have waived her right to file it, the
complainants said.
The Arroyo administration shelved the NBN deal
with China’s ZTE Corp. amid allegations of bribery and overpricing.
Abalos and Romulo Neri, former director
general of the National Economic Development Authority, are undergoing trial
in the Sandiganbayan in connection with
the criminal cases filed against them for their role in the scuttled deal.
Proper
process
Assistant Ombudsman Asryman Rafanan said the
cases against Arroyo were undergoing the proper processes.
Rafanan said the Office of the Ombudsman would
evaluate the case based on the facts. It would not file cases haphazardly and
would not be moved by emotions, he said.
He also said that if the agency would file
cases, it wanted to make sure these were airtight.
Last month, at her first press conference,
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said she would focus on high-profile cases
and would make sure that cases filed were airtight. But she also said she did
not want to go berserk filing cases if there was no case just to please the
public.
Leila B. Salaverria and Philip C. Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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