Malacañang Optimistic That Arroyo Will Be Brought to Justice

The Aquino administration is confident that former president and now congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be brought to justice, a Palace official said last week after the Ombudsman junks charges against Gloria Arroyo over the fertilizer fund scam.

The Office of the Ombudsman recently said it found no evidence linking Mrs. Arroyo to a multi-million peso fertilizer fund controversy.

In a press briefing in Malacañang, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said the Palace respects the decision of the Ombudsman, an independent constitutional body, in dismissing the case against Mrs. Arroyo.

Coloma also clarified that the case on the fertilizer scam was filed not by the present administration but by former solicitor general Frank Chavez. He, however, said that the administration is confident that justice will be served.

“Ang mga kasong inihaharap ng kasalukuyang administrasyon ay nababatay sa kongkretong ebidensya at sa buong pagsisikap na mapatunayan ito sa ating mga hukuman alinsunod sa mga proseso ng katarungan ng ating bansa. Walang ganyang pangangamba,” Coloma said in response to reporters’ questions about the Palace’s optimism on moves to go after the former president.

He said the goal of the administration is to gather evidence meticulously and build strong cases against her that would lead to conviction.

The Office of the Ombudsman has also thrown out three other cases filed against Mrs. Arroyo and other members of her family.

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