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SC orders Mike Arroyo dropped from graft charge over 2009 chopper deal

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Mike Arroyo, husband of former Philippine president Gloria Arroyo, is escorted by aides to a court room for his wife" s="" appearance="" for="" her="" arraignment="" in="" Pasay="" suburban="" on="" February="" Ted="" AFP="" File="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/03/09/20120203-arroyo-mike-afp.jpg"/><figcaption>Mike Arroyo, husband of former Philippine president Gloria Arroyo, is escorted by aides to a court room for his wife&#x27;s appearance for her arraignment in Pasay City, suburban Manila, on February 23, 2012. <em>Ted Aljibe, AFP/File photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — The Supreme Court has ordered the anti-graft court to drop former first gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo from a graft charge over the allegedly anomalous purchase by the Philippine National Police (PNP) of pre-owned helicopters in 2009.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The Supreme Court has ordered Sandiganbayan to drop ex-first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo from graft charge over PNP’s allegedly anomalous purchase of pre-owned helicopters in 2009.<br/><br/>Decision dated Dec 1, 2021, uploaded April 10. Penned by now-retired Justice Rosmari Carandang. <a href="https://t.co/ogSm6RL2Pe">pic.twitter.com/ogSm6RL2Pe</a></p>— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1513327056146530304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>In a resolution dated December 1, 2021 but released only on April 10 this year, the SC Special Third Division reversed its January 27, 2020 decision and granted Arroyo’s motion for reconsideration, saying Arroyo shouldn’t have been charged in the first place.</p><p>“The OMB (Office of the Ombudsman) and Sandiganbayan committed grave abuse of discretion in finding probable cause against Arroyo. The evidence the prosecution adduced to substantiate its claim of conspiracy is insufficient to maintain a reasonable belief that Arroyo is probably guilty of violating Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019. The element of conspiracy with a public officer was not established,” the resolution said.</p><p>Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act punishes “giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.”</p><p>For this to apply to a private citizen like Arroyo, conspiracy with public officers who are covered by the law must be shown, the court said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EeFifPBg4fY?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>THE CASE VS MIKE ARROYO</strong></div><p>Arroyo was accused of taking part in the transaction which involved the sale of 1 brand new helicopter and 2 pre-owned helicopters to the PNP, despite the National Police Commission’s requirement to buy only brand new choppers.</p><p>In an affidavit, Lionair owner Archibald Po said that through his help, Arroyo purchased 5 helicopters from manufacturer Robinsons Helicopter Company in 2003 but these were registered through another company he owned at that time, Asian Spirit, which was eligible to import tax free.</p><p>When Arroyo wanted to sell the choppers, these were transferred to Lionair, which allegedly entered into an agreement with Manila Aerospace Products Trading Corporation (MAPTRA).</p><p>Po said they made it appear MAPTRA was Lionair’s marketing arm so it could transact with the PNP.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/12/03/12/mike-arroyo-insists-innocence-pnp-chopper-case">Mike Arroyo insists innocence on PNP chopper case</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/08/02/11/traders-tag-mike-arroyo-chopper-scam">Traders tag Mike Arroyo in &#x27;chopper scam&#x27;</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/-depth/08/02/11/execs-testify-vs-mike-arroyo-chopper-scam">Execs testify vs Mike Arroyo on &#x27;chopper scam&#x27;</a></li></ul><p>The 2 choppers were sold at US$448,173.73 each, only slightly lower than the original price of US$475,000 for each unit.</p><p>Po claimed the amount was remitted to Arroyo.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/08/02/11/mike-arroyo-got-700000-2-choppers">Mike Arroyo got $700,000 for 2 choppers</a></li></ul><p>In his defense, Arroyo said it was the company Lourdes T. Arroyo, Incorporated (LTA), through his now-deceased brother Iggy, which transacted with the manufacturer. </p><div><strong>SC RULING</strong></div><p>According to the SC Special Third Division’s resolution penned by now-retired Justice Rosmari Carandang, there was no probable cause to believe Mike Arroyo connived with public officers, blaming the Office of the Ombudsman for grossly misappreciating the facts.</p><p>Instead, it cited the testimony of MAPTRA’s owner, Hilario “Larry” De Vera, who said he did not personally know Arroyo.</p><p>“The quoted testimony is consistent with the theory that Arroyo could not have connived with MAPTRA, the business entity which sold the helicopters to PNP, because its owner does not even personally know him,” the high court said.</p><p>“This is not a mere disagreement on the appreciation of evidence by the OMB but a glaring hole or gap in the prosecution&#x27;s case that it failed to fill to maintain a reasonable belief that Arroyo connived with public officers in the procurement of the helicopters. Since the OMB cannot establish the element of conspiracy, the case of the State against Arroyo will immediately fall apart and there will be no need to provide proof for the other elements of the offense to support a reasonable belief that Arroyo is complicit in the purported irregularities in the procurement of the helicopters,” it added.</p><p>The SC Special Third Division faulted the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan for assuming that LTA and Mike Arroyo are “one and the same.” </p><p>It believed Arroyo’s claim that he has already divested his LTA shares and assigned them to another person, even if the transfer was not registered in LTA’s stock and transfer book.</p><p>The Ombudsman was not convinced because the Corporation Code requires that the transfer of shares must be recorded in the corporation’s books.</p><p>In deciding to charge Mike Arroyo, the Ombudsman made several findings indicating that Arroyo was in fact the owner of the helicopters; that he ordered that these be registered under another entity’s name; and that he paid for maintenance, hangar fees, take-off and landing charges, among other fees.</p><p>Some of these findings by the Ombudsman were dismissed as hearsay by the SC Special Third Division, which declared the Sandiganbayan and Ombudsman to have committed grave abuse of discretion in issuing a warrant of arrest and finding probable cause to file a criminal charge against Arroyo, respectively.</p><p>“It is also worthy to point out that even if the transfer of shares carried out in the Deed of Assignment was not registered in the stock and transfer book, this is not an indicium that no assignment of shares took place. The transfer of shares was in fact supported by documentary evidence including inter alia those proving that the corresponding capital gains tax and documentary stamp tax were paid,” the court explained.</p><p>SC justices Rodil Zalameda, Mario Lopez and Samuel Gaerlan concurred in Carandang’s resolution. </p><div><strong>DISSENT</strong></div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Leonen also pointed out Arroyo’s SC petition is moot because Sandiganbayan has already junked his motion for judicial determination of guilt. Says no grave abuse of discretion because there is reasonable belief Arroyo was involved in anomalous sale of helicopters. <a href="https://t.co/XzKoV2bNBU">pic.twitter.com/XzKoV2bNBU</a></p>— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1513355463840366597?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>But in his dissenting opinion, SC Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said the high court must not interfere with the Ombudsman’s exercise of its investigatory and prosecutory prerogatives unless it is shown that there is a grave abuse of discretion.</p><p>“It is an executive function that must be respected based on the principle of separation of powers. The Office of the Ombudsman is given wide latitude to act on criminal complaints. This is in consonance with its unique role as mandated by the Constitution,” he said.</p><p>Leonen pointed out the Supreme Court is not a trier of facts and must rely on the factual findings of the Ombudsman.</p><p>That the Sandiganbayan has also judicially determined there is probable cause to proceed to trial, Leonen said, should have rendered Arroyo’s petition moot.</p><p>He added, misappreciation of facts alone does not amount to grave abuse of discretion.</p><p>In this case however, Leonen said “there is reasonable belief that petitioner was involved in the anomalous sale as the owner of the helicopters.”</p><p>“There are pieces of evidence establishing that petitioner retained his financial interest in Lourdes T. Arroyo, Inc. and that he exercised acts of ownership over the helicopters. He instructed Po to register the helicopters under the name of Asian Spirit merely for tax purposes and he personally paid for the hangar fees, take-off and landing charges, expenses for maintenance, pilotage, gasoline, oil and lubricants, as well as fees for the renewal of the aircraft registration and certificate of airworthiness. Petitioner continued to pay for the maintenance and operating fees until 2011, even if he claimed that he merely leased the helicopters until 2004,” he said.</p><p>“Moreover, there were indications that the negotiation committee of the National Police Commission intended to unduly favor petitioner in the purchase of the helicopters. The prosecution showed petitioner was able to dispose of the helicopters with the participation and cooperation of the officers and personnel of the Philippine National Police,” he added.</p>

The Supreme Court has ordered the anti-graft court to drop former first gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo from a graft charge over the allegedly anomalous purchase by the PNP of pre-owned helicopters.

SC orders Mike Arroyo dropped from graft charge over 2009 chopper deal

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SC orders Mike Arroyo dropped from graft charge over 2009 chopper deal

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 11, 2022 01:21 PM PHT

Read More:

Mike Arroyo

Supreme Court

PNP

chopper scam

graft and corruption

ombudsman

lionair

archibald po

MAPTRA

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