The Philippine Supreme Court dismisses the plunder case against former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with a vote of 11-4 and sets the motion for her release. She has been detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center since October 2012.
The remaining plunder case is about the alleged misuse of P366 million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) fund from 2008 to 2010.
The justices who voted against Arroyo are Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, and Justices Marvic Leonen and Benjamin Caguioa. Of the 4, only Carpio is an appointee of the former president.
The 11 justices who ruled in favor of the former president are:
Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr
Justice Teresita de Castro
Justice Arturo Brion
Justice Diosdado Peralta
Justice Lucas Bersamin
Justice Mariano del Castillo
Justice Jose Perez
Justice Jose Mendoza
Justice Bienvenido Reyes
Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe
Justice Francis Jardeleza
Of the 11, three are appointees of Aquino: Bernabe, Reyes and Jardeleza.
Arroyo’s lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said they received the same information about the acquittal. In a statement, Topacio said: “The Supreme Court has once again proven itself to be the final bastion of justice and the rule of law. Its ruling today has validated what we have been saying for six years now: that the charges against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo are nothing more than disingenuous attempts at political persecution by a corrupt and inept Aquino administration intent on covering up its gross lack of accomplishments by harassing its political opponents."
The Supreme Court said that the evidence against her are weak. Before this ruling the Supreme Court already stopped her trial at the Sandiganbayan.
The 69-year-old Arroyo is currently a representative in Pampanga.
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