NextGen Day

MANILA – Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo has been absolved of criminal charges related to the acquisition of three helicopters by the Philippine National Police (PNP) for PHP105 million in 2009.

The Supreme Court granted Arroyo’s plea for reconsideration and directed the Sandiganbayan to remove her husband, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, from the criminal case’s information “at any stage of the proceedings,” in a resolution posted online on Sunday.

The determination from Dec. 1, 2021 overturned a January 2020 decision that had dismissed Arroyo’s petition.

“The element of collusion with a public officer was not proved,” the court concluded, adding that the SC’s involvement is “essential for the orderly administration of justice or the avoidance of oppression.”

The resolution stated, “The court finds that the OMB (Office of the Ombudsman) has badly misappreciated the attendant and plain facts in a manner that is comparable to egregious abuse of discretion.”

Arroyo alleged that the Ombudsman failed to separate him from Lourdes T. Arroyo Inc. (LTA Inc.), the company that had helped finance the helicopters’ acquisition.

He claimed that he had already divested from LTA (in 2001) at the time of the transactions, and that he only repurchased shares in 2010 to resume his interest.

Investigators should have given more weight to Arroyo’s documentation evidence of the helicopters’ genuine ownership and his disengagement from LTA rather than Lionair Inc. and Asian Spirit Inc. owner Archibald Po’s sworn statement, according to Arroyo.

Po told a Senate committee that Arroyo approached him personally about buying Robinson R44 helicopters.

The PNP eventually purchased the helicopters from Manila Aerospace Products Trading Corp.

LTA Inc. made a deal with Po for a cash advance so Po’s LionAir could buy the plane from the manufacturer.

Po’s Lionair was the registered owner of the helicopters, and the firm was listed as the purchaser on the export certificate of airworthiness applications granted and validated by the United States Federal Aviation Administration.

Lionair was named as the owner on manufacturer invoices as well as the Air Transportation Office’s registration certificates.

The Ombudsman was not convinced that Arroyo had already divested himself of any interest in LTA Inc. prior to the procurement when he found probable cause.

“Conspiracy between public officers and Arroyo has not been proven by any connection to achieve even the low threshold of probable cause,” the SC said, adding that “even if the prosecution’s witnesses’ unverified statements are admitted, these still fail to show how Arroyo conspired with any public officer.”

The court also found that the Ombudsman did not infringe on Arroyo’s entitlement to a prompt resolution of the matter.

While the matter has been ongoing for almost a decade since the information against Arroyo was filed (May 30, 2012), there is no evidence that the time period was marked by vexatious, capricious, or oppressive delays that violated his right to a prompt resolution of the case against him. The administrative and criminal components of the subject procurement involved around 33 respondents, according to the SC.

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