Arroyo camp accused of delaying DOJ proceedings on plunder raps

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is delaying the Justice Department's investigation into the plunder charges against her in connection with the alleged misuse of about P550 million in Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) funds. This was the allegation hurled Thursday by former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez, who filed the plunder complaint against Mrs. Arroyo and other ranking offiicals during her administration. Mrs. Arroyo was expected to show up at the DOJ and submit her counter-affidavit. She was supposed to show up and submit the document last June 6 but her lawyer asked for an extension, a request granted by the DOJ panel handling the preliminary investigation into the complaint. However, the former Philippine leader's lawyer, Benjamin Santos, told the panel on Thursday that Mrs. Arroyo will only submit a counter-affidavit after Chavez has completed the presentation of his evidence. This irritated Chavez who told the panel that all the documentary evidence are attached in the amended complaint he filed last June 6. He added that the documents being subpoenaed by the panel are only the original copies of the documents he attached in his complaint. Chavez then accused Mrs. Arroyo's camp of delaying the DOJ's proceedings. "It is dillatory, it is friviolous, it is fastidious, and it is baseless. The documents they are asking for have been attached to the amended complaint. What we were asking for are the original copies from the different custodians of the records. "These documents have been staring at them in their faces for 17 days. So it's not really nitpicking but in fact, petty-fogging for the lawyers here to ask for additional documents," Chavez later told reporters. No delaying tactics? Santos, however, denied employing any delaying tactics. He insisted that because the new pieces of evidence have not been presented, there is no period for the filing of counter-affidavits, to begin with. "Complainant [Chavez] has not submitted the documents and therefore, as of now, there can't be any period to speak of," he said. Santos made the statement even if he agreed last June 6 that the non-extendable period for the filing of counter-affidavits lapses on June 23, Thursday. Chavez then said that Santos' moves were "disrespectful" of the DOJ panel and "a mockery of his own words" because he agreed that his client, Mrs. Arroyo, would attend Thursday's hearings and submit her counter-affidavit. Following the heated exchange between Chavez and Santos, the panel led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva then rescheduled the hearing on July 11 and required Mrs. Arroyo and the other respondents to show up and submit their counter-affidavits. Panel member Senior Assisstant State Prosecutor Lilian Doris-Alejo likewise reminded Santos that nowhere in the Rules of Court is it stated that during a preliminary investigation, the respondent will only submit a counter-affidavit when a complainant has completed the presentation of evidence. Chavez's plunder complaint questioned the supposed infusion of private OWWA funds into PhilHealth funds, which are public in nature. Chavez had claimed that Mrs. Arroyo's administration had used P530 million for "questionable" acquisitions and for the former President’s reelection bid in 2004. Aside from Mrs. Arroyo, the other respondents impleaded in the plunder complaint are former Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, former OWWA administrator Virgilio Angelo, and former PhilHealth president Francisco Duque III. Chavez has likewise filed an amended complaint to include eight more respondents on the charge sheet. These are Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, her predecessor Patricia Sto. Tomas, OWWA Board of Trustees member Victorino Balais, and former OWWA board members Manuel Imson, Mina Figueroa, Caroline Rogge, and Virginia Pasalo. One of the respondents, Gregorio Oca, will be cleared of any criminal liability because he is already deceased. — RSJ, GMA News