Mike Arroyo asks SC to nullify case vs wife

(Updated 7:40 p.m.) Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike" Arroyo on Monday asked the Supreme Court to nullify the electoral sabotage case filed against his wife, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in connection with the alleged cheating in the 2007 elections. In a supplemental petition submitted to the court, Mr. Arroyo argued that the case should “be declared null and void and without any legal effect whatsoever" since it was based on the findings of the joint Department of Justice-Commission on Elections panel, the creation of which his camp claims was unconstitutional. “Due to the unconstitutionality and unlawfulness of its creation, and due to its absolute lack of authority and jurisdiction, all the acts the joint committee has so far performed as well as all proceedings emanating and arising there from are equally null and void," he said in the petition. Mr. Arroyo also asked the high court to immediately issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the DOJ and the Comelec from further conducting the investigation. Two weeks ago, Mr. Arroyo filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition asking the high court to declare as illegal and unconstitutional the legality of Joint Order 0001 issued last Aug. 15, 2001, which created the joint panel. SC ruling out Tuesday? The Supreme Court, meanwhile, may rule on Tuesday on the legality of the DOJ-Comelec panel. Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez, however, declined to comment on how the high tribunal will rule on Mr. Arroyo's petitions, or whether the court will grant the prayed for TRO or issue a status quo ante order. “I don’t want to preempt what the court will do on those two petitions but there are so many things that can happen there," he said Monday. "Without discussing the merit, the court can dismiss the petition outright if it thinks the petition is moot and academic. Or, if it thinks the petitions are not moot and academic, the court can require respondents to comment." He added: "Again at the end of the day, the petitions will either be dismissed for lack of merit, or petitions will be granted because the court or majority of justices will find the two petitions meritorious." Rigged, railroaded The former First Gentleman said his camp decided to file the supplemental petition after the events that eventually led to his wife’s arrest. "The previous apprehensions that the proceedings conducted by the joint committee are designed to rig and railroad the preliminary investigation in the electoral sabotage case against the Arroyos, complained of in the petition, have now been proven true and real," he said. Mrs. Arroyo, now a congresswoman representing the second district of Pampanga, was placed under police custody on Friday hours after Comelec decided to file a case against her for the non-bailable crime of electoral sabotage before a Pasay court. The Comelec built the poll fraud case based on findings by the joint panel that Mrs. Arroyo ordered the rigging of the 2007 elections to favor administration candidates during her incumbency. Mrs. Arroyo was allowed by the local court to stay at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City while under arrest due to her bone mineral disorder and hypoparathyroidism. Escudero: DOJ-Comelec probe legal At the Senate, Sen. Francis Escudero said the DOJ and the Comelec followed the law when they worked together on the fact-finding part while the Comelec alone deliberated on the existence of probable cause to merit the filing of the case. He said that all questions regarding the validity of the joint investigating panel should be moot by now. "Whatever questions GMA (Mrs. Arroyo’s initials) or FG (Mr. Arroyo) may raise against the joint panel is now moot having been overtaken by events and given the ‘curative’ action, on its own, by the Comelec," Escudero said in a statement. He also said that instead of raising technicalities, the camp of Mrs. Arroyo should take advantage of this opportunity to prove her innocence. "[Mrs. Arroyo should] face the charges leveled against her squarely and on the merits," Escudero said. Earlier in the day, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that if the SC nullifies the joint panel, the electoral sabotage case against Mrs. Arroyo might be adversely affected. - with Kim Tan/KBK, GMA News