Title
Macapagal-Arroyo vs. People
Case
G.R. No. 220598
Decision Date
Jul 19, 2016
Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and others charged with plunder for allegedly diverting PHP 366M from PCSO funds; Supreme Court upheld denial of bail, citing strong evidence.
plunder
demurrer to evidence
grave abuse of discretion

Case Summary (G.R. No. 220598)

Factual Background

The Ombudsman charged ten public officials, including Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Benigno B. Aguas, and PCSO officers, with plunder for alleged diversion and withdrawal of funds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Confidential/Intelligence Fund (CIF) totaling PHP 365,997,915.00. The information alleged that, between January 2008 and June 2010, the accused connived to divert funds from PCSO operating accounts into CIF, withdrew cash advances in violation of rules, and thereby amassed ill-gotten wealth through raids on the public treasury and other predicate means under Section 1(d) of the Plunder Law. The Sandiganbayan acquired personal jurisdiction over several accused at different times and proceeded to try the case.

Trial Evidence and Audit Findings

The State presented as its central witness Atty. Aleta Tolentino, PCSO Audit Committee chair, who described extensive COA audit reports and comparative corporate operating budgets showing commingled PCSO funds, repeated CIF disbursements exceeding approved CIF budgets, absence or insufficiency of supporting liquidation documents, irregular designation and bonding of special disbursing officers, and journal entries that reallocated CIF withdrawals to prize and charity funds. Tolentino summarized CIF disbursements in 2008–2010 and testified that, although COA issued various credit advices, the requisite audits and supporting documentation were deficient. The State also presented testimony from law enforcement intelligence officers and COA officials who corroborated the absence of documented PCSO intelligence operations purportedly funded by the CIF.

Trial Court Proceedings and Prior Rulings

After the prosecution rested, several accused filed demurrers to evidence. On April 6, 2015 the Sandiganbayan granted demurrers and dismissed the case as to some board members and a COA official, but denied the demurrers of Arroyo, Aguas, and PCSO Chairman Valencia, finding sufficient evidence of conspiracy and, as to some, malversation. Motions for reconsideration were denied on September 10, 2015. The Sandiganbayan had earlier denied bail for Arroyo and Aguas on the ground that the evidence of guilt was strong.

Parties' Contentions to the Supreme Court

Petitioners challenged the denials of their demurrers to evidence by certiorari, asserting grave abuse of discretion. Arroyo argued that the Sandiganbayan misapplied R.A. No. 7080 by treating her marginal “OK” notations on CIF requests as proof of the corpus delicti of plunder, that the information failed to identify a main plunderer, and that the prosecution produced no evidence that she or Aguas amassed or acquired ill-gotten wealth of at least P50,000,000.00. Aguas similarly contended that the prosecution failed to establish prosecution elements of plunder and that his certifications on disbursement vouchers did not establish conspiracy or the requisite amassment. The prosecution opposed the petitions and defended the Sandiganbayan’s interpretation that personal gain need not be shown for the predicate act of “raids on the public treasury,” and urged dismissal of the petitions as procedurally improper.

Procedural Issue: Availability of Certiorari

The Court addressed whether certiorari was a proper vehicle to challenge an interlocutory denial of demurrer to evidence. It reaffirmed that Section 23, Rule 119 ordinarily precludes review of a denial of a demurrer to evidence before judgment, but held that certiorari remains available when the denial is tainted by a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction. The Court relied on the constitutional duty to correct grave abuse encapsulated in Art. VIII, Sec. 1, 1987 Constitution and concluded that certiorari was proper in the exceptional circumstances of the present case.

Substantive Issues and Standards Articulated

The Court distilled the substantive questions: whether the prosecution sufficiently alleged and proved a conspiracy among Arroyo, Aguas, and others; whether the elements of plunder were established, including that a public officer amassed or acquired ill-gotten wealth aggregating at least P50,000,000.00; and whether the predicate act of raids on the public treasury was proven. The Court reviewed governing standards on conspiracy, distinguishing express and implied conspiracy, and stressing that an accused must be shown to have performed an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy or that an implied conspiracy be proved by a chain of circumstances demonstrating a community of criminal design. The Court also summarized the statutory elements of plunder under Section 2, R.A. No. 7080 and the definitional modes in Section 1(d).

Ruling of the Supreme Court

The Court granted the consolidated petitions for certiorari. It annulled and set aside the Sandiganbayan resolutions issued April 6, 2015 and September 10, 2015. The Court granted the demurrers to evidence of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno B. Aguas, dismissed Criminal Case No. SB-12-CRM-0174 as to those petitioners for insufficiency of evidence, and ordered their immediate release from detention. The Court made no pronouncement on costs.

Legal Basis and Reasoning of the Majority

The majority held that the Sandiganbayan gravely abused its discretion in denying the demurrers to evidence because the prosecution failed to allege and prove essential elements of plunder as charged against Arroyo and Aguas. First, the Court found the information deficient insofar as it did not identify a main plunderer, and the prosecution did not properly allege the nature of the conspiracy required by the Plunder Law to hold multiple persons jointly liable for an aggregate amount. The majority emphasized that R.A. No. 7080 requires that a particular public officer be identified as one who “amasses, accumulates or acquires” ill-gotten wealth amounting to at least P50,000,000.00, and that where several persons are charged their collective liability must still be consistent with the statutory threshold. Second, the majority concluded that conspiracy had not been proved against Arroyo and Aguas. It held that marginal “OK” notations by Arroyo on CIF requests did not constitute the requisite overt acts because they did not evince the immediate and necessary relation to the alleged plunder; and that Aguas’s certifications on vouchers, while irregular, did not suffice to prove participation in an implied conspiracy in the absence of proof that each performed an overt act in furtherance of the common design. Third, and dispositive on the corpus delicti, the Court found that the prosecution produced no competent evidence that Arroyo or Aguas personally amassed, accumulated, or acquired ill-gotten wealth of at least P50,000,000.00. It noted that the prosecution’s primary witness conceded she did not know the present whereabouts of any alleged ill-gotten wealth. Fourth, the majority construed the phrase “raids on the public treasury” in Section 1(d)(1) of R.A. No. 7080 by applying the principle noscitur a sociis, observing that the phrase stands with terms—“misappropriation, conversion, misuse, or malversation”—that presuppose the use of the property taken. The Court therefore held that proof of a “raid” requires a showing of use of the property taken, implying personal benefit, and concluded that the prosecution failed to prove that element beyond reasonable doubt as to Arroyo and Aguas. On procedure the Court reiterated that certiorari may issue to correct grave abuse amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction and that the Sandiganbayan’s denial, being arbitrary and capricious i

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