THE Supreme Court on Tuesday extended for 90 days the status quo ante order it issued last Oct. 20 suspending the trial for plunder of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo before the Sandiganbayan.
SC spokesman Theodore Te said the court issued the 90-day SQA order in connection with Arroyo’s alleged participation in embezzling P366 million from the intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office from 2008 to 2010.
“In the matter of G.R. No. 220598… the Court issued a status quo ante order for 90 days, or until February 19, 2016, directing the parties to observe the status quo prevailing before the issuance of the assailed orders of the Sandiganbayan dated April 6, 2015,” the SC said.
Arroyo’s camp welcomed the court’s decision and claimed it is a sign that the magistrates found serious flaws in the process.
“The 90-day suspension is a positive development. It indicates”¨that the Supreme Court has really seen serious flaws with the way”¨Sandiganbayan treated the case as pointed out by former justice secretary Estelito Mendoza,’’ a lawyer source told The Standard.”¨
Last April, Arroyo assailed before the SC the denial of her bail by the Sandiganbayan, insisting that the anti-graft court committed grave abuse of discretion when it denied her bail application on the ground that the evidence of her guilt is strong.
Mrs. Arroyo through her lawyer, former solicitor general Estelito Mendoza, argued that the former president is still entitled to bail for two reasons: her continued detention has resulted in the impairment of her health, and; she is demonstrably not a flight risk.
Mrs. Arroyo is currently under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City awaiting the SC’s ruling on her petition seeking to reverse the Sandiganbayan’s resolutions, dated April 6, 2015 and Sept. 10, 2015, junking her demurrer to evidence as well as the denial of her bail plea.
She also pleaded with the Court to expedite its proceedings on her petition and to set the case for oral arguments.
The Pampanga lawmaker even cited a United Nations opinion that her continued detention was arbitrary and illegal under international laws.
The Court earlier issued a 30-day SQA to allow the magistrates to decide on the merits of the case without the Sandiganbayan proceeding further with the trial.
The SC has also directed the Sandiganbayan to reply to Arroyo’s petition seeking the immediate resolution of her bail petition and questioning the dismissal of her demurrer to evidence last month.