By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS
A friend shared this tidbit about his meeting with Elena Bautista-Horn, a Gloria Arroyo loyalist in a mall last year. He asked how they, referring to the Arroyo camp, were doing.
When Bautista-Horn replied, she looked unworried. “We survived three years. Three more years to go,” she said.
That was last year. Now, there are only two years and three weeks left of the Aquino administration.
Arroyo, despite her spinal and other ailments, has good reasons to look to the near future positively. Last week, the Ombudsman cleared her of involvement in the P728 million fertilizer fund scam.
The case was filed by former Solicitor General Frank Chavez, who passed away last year.
The case was about the misuse of funds for fertilizer to be distributed to the farmers. Investigation showed that through fake projects and ghost deliveries, money supposedly for the farmers went to the pockets of politicians and pork barrel operators. The notorious Janet Lim-Napoles participated in that scam.
Investigation identified Arroyo’s Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante as the chief operator of the scam. Arroyo’s Agriculture Secretary Lorenzo “Cito” Lorenzo was also implicated in the scandal.
There were allegations that Bolante used the fertilizer fund to finance Arroyo’s tainted election in 2004.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, however, said there is no factual, or legal basis “to show Arroyo’s participation in the scheme… perpetrated by Lorenzo and Bolante.”
She said Chavez failed to present any documentary or testimonial evidence proving Arroyo’s alleged knowledge of, or participation in, the scam.
“All of the documents submitted by complainant were prepared and signed by other persons, and not by respondent. Not one of them may be traced back to her. Thus, no reasonable conclusion may be made that she, directly or indirectly, took part in the alleged irregularities that attended the entire process in the release of the fund,” the Ombudsman’s decision said.
It’s the fourth case against Arroyo that was dismissed. Four more are still awaiting decision.
Recently, Arroyo and her son, Camarines Sur Representative Diosdado Ignacio “Dato” Arroyo were also cleared of irregular involvement over the P1-billion Libmanan-Cabusao Dam and Skybridge 1 and 2 projects.
In October 2012, the case against Arroyo in the alleged misuse of the P530 million Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration was also dismissed by the Ombudsman.
Much earlier, In Nov. 2011, Arroyo was also cleared of accusations of plunder in connection with the P72 million in capital gains tax allegedly due but not collected in the 2007 sale of the old Iloilo Airport to Megaworld Corporation.
Awaiting decision are two plunder cases (PCSO and Malampaya funds), one electoral sabotage case and violation of the anti-graft law (NBN/ZTE).
The plunder cases are the P366-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds scam and alleged misuse of P900 million in royalties from the Malampaya gas fund through projects packaged by businesswoman Janet Lim- Napoles.
There is still the Electoral Sabotage case which was the case used for arresting and putting her in jail in November 2011 (remember the dramatic NAIA1 scene). But the case in connection with alleged irregularities in the 2007 elections, where she was not a candidate, was so weak, the judge granted her bail on that.
No charges has been filed against Arroyo for her massive cheating in the 2004 elections (as heard in the Hello Garci tapes) because the Electoral Sabotage law was enacted in 2007.
Arroyo is also a respondent in the NBN/ZTE case, where Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada is the star witness but it’s violation of the anti-graft law (R.A. 3019), not, plunder. Violation of R.A. 3019 is bailable.
There are many reasons why a case is dismissed. One of them is, it was really meant to be dismissed.
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