Arroyo couple skips 2007 election sabotage probe
Thursday, November 3, 2011
ONLY one out of the more than 30 persons accused of electoral sabotage attended the preliminary investigation conducted by a joint panel that looked into irregularities in the 2007 polls.
Only former Maguindanao provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol showed up before the joint Commission on Elections-Department of Justice panel led by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano.
The rest, including former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Mike, were absent but were represented by their respective counsels.
Artemio Tuquero, a former Court of Appeals associate justice during Marcos time and former President Joseph Estrada’s Justice secretary, appeared for ex-President Arroyo.
Mike Arroyo, on the other hand, was represented by lawyer Joselito Lomangaya, who made a special appearance for counsel Ferdinand Topacio.
Complainant Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III was also present. His lawyer said they will adopt affidavits of witnesses who earlier identified the Arroyos, former Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos Sr., former Justice secretary and Team Unity lawyer Alberto Agra, former presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio, and others who planned to sabotage the 2007 elections by ensuring a “12-0” victory in favor of the Arroyo administration’s senatorial candidates.
Tuquero later raised procedural lapses during the investigation proceedings based on the report of the joint DOJ-Comelec fact-finding team.
It was improper for the panel to entertain the complaint of another team which is also an arm of the DOJ, saying it is tantamount to a prejudgment of the case, he said.
“Considering the previous pronouncements of the head of the Comelec and DOJ, I think they have already made up their minds. In fact, they have announced that the case will be filed in court before Christmas. How sure are they that the evidence is strong enough to establish probable cause, unless they have already prejudged the case?” he said.
Never has he encountered a situation in which the DOJ had to work with the Comelec in conducting preliminary investigations, said Tuquero, who has been a lawyer for 20 years.
If the department he once headed decides to reject his motion, Tuquero will be bound to file a petition for prohibition in the Supreme Court to stop the preliminary investigation proceedings.
Mike Arroyo’s counsel likewise said in a statement that his camp is appearing before the joint PI committee of the DOJ and Comelec, without recognizing the legitimacy of its existence.
“We believe that the joint committee of the DOJ and Comelec, whose respective heads are far from being impartial and disinterested, having lawyered for parties who have contended that the 2004 and 2007 elections have been visited by fraud, is nothing but a kangaroo court preordained to persecute our client and his spouse. We refuse to dignify this medieval inquisition,” said Topacio.
As expected, Arellano defended the panel, saying they were duly constituted by proper authorities. The panel’s other members include Provincial Prosecutor George Dee, City Prosecutor Jacinto Ang, Comelec lawyers Michael Villaret, and Romeo Fortes.
The panel also instructed parties to submit their respective motions on or before the next hearing on November 14.
Arellano said that the respondents’ physical presence during the next hearing is not yet required, as long as they are represented by counsel. (JCV/Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/11/03/arroyo-couple-skips-2007-election-sabotage-probe-188603
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