THE Supreme Court has ordered the Sandiganbayan to drop former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo from a graft case involving the alleged anomalous purchase of second-hand helicopters by the PNP in 2009 and 2010.
The ruling was promulgated on Dec. 1, 2021 but was made public only on April 10.
The SC’s Special Third Division voted 4-1 to grant Arroyo’s motion for reconsideration that assailed the division’s decision which dismissed his petition for certiorari.
“The Sandiganbayan is ordered to drop Jose Miguel T. Arroyo from the Information filed in the criminal case docketed as SB-12-CRM-10164 at any stage of the proceedings,” the ruling penned by then Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang said.
Concurring with the ruling are Associate Justices Rodil Zalameda, Mario Lopez and Samuel Gaerlan.
The case stemmed from the PNP’s purchase from Manila Aerospace Products Trading Corporation (MAPTRA) of one fully-equipped Robinson R44 Raven II Light Police Operational Helicopter for about P42.3 million and two standard Robinson R44 Raven I LPOHs for P62.7 million or for a total of about P105 million from 2009 to 2010.
An investigation conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman found that the helicopters were not brand new, contrary to the requirement of the PNP set by the National Police Commission.
The probe also showed that two of the three delivered choppers were actually formerly owned by Arroyo, based on the testimony of prosecution witness Lionair and Asian Spirit owner Archibald Po.
Po also said Arroyo was involved in the negotiation for the purchase of the helicopters.
In deciding to indict Arroyo, the Ombudsman made several findings indicating he was in fact the owner of the helicopters; he ordered that these be registered under the name of Po’s old company Asian Spirit for tax purposes; and that he paid for maintenance, hangar fees, take-off and landing charges.
In his counter-affidavit, Arroyo said he is a complete stranger to MAPTRA which sold the choppers and it was Lourdes T. Arroyo Incorporated (LTA), whose president is his brother, Ignacio, who transacted with the advancement of money. Ignacio died in 2012.
He also said he has completely divested his shares in LTA and assigned them to another person, even if it is not registered in LTA’s stock and transfer book.
The SC sided with Arroyo and said there was no probable cause to believe Arroyo connived with public officers.
“Though the existence of conspiracy is a factual issue that is best threshed out in a full-blown trial on the merits, the prosecution has the duty to establish at the preliminary investigation level that there is a reasonable belief that Arroyo connived with public officers to commit the offense charged against him,” the SC said.
The SC also held the Office of the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan committed grave abuse of discretion in finding probable cause, indicting and issuing warrant of arrest against Arroyo despite the dearth of evidence of conspiracy.
