The Supreme Court in the Philippines has ordered the Sandiganbayan to drop charges against former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo over his involvement in the Philippine National Police’s purchase of second-hand helicopters in 2009.
“The Sandiganbayan is ordered to drop petitioner Arroyo from the Information filed in the criminal case docketed as SB-12-CRM-0164 at any stage of the proceedings,” the tribunal said in a 19-page ruling by Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang.
The ruling was issued last December 1, 2021, but was released only recently by the Supreme Court Special Third Division.
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The Field Investigation Office of the Ombudsman (FIO-OMB) had filed a case against Arroyo, his brother Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo, Manila Aerospace Products Trading Corporation (MAPTRA) President Hilario “Larry” De Vera, and several PNP officials for violation of several penal laws.
The case involved PNP’s purchase of three helicopters of one Robinson R44 Raven II Light Police Operational Helicopter for P42.31 million and two Standard Robinson R44 Raven I Light Police Operational Helicopters for P62.67 million from MAPTRA: .
Two of those purchased were allegedly pre-owned by Arroyo. However Arroyo denied the allegations, insisting that he had no links with MAPTRA.
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”A careful scrutiny of all the evidence the prosecution submitted to establish the existence of probable cause against Arroyo reveals that no evidence of the prosecution demonstrated the manner by which Arroyo connived with any public officer in the purported anomalous procurement,” the high court said.
“To sustain a finding of probable cause against Arroyo, the prosecution must necessarily justify the deviation from the general principle of separate juridical entity and the application of piercing of the corporate veil of entity before Arroyo may be held for trial,” it added.
