THE Supreme Court (SC) en banc on Tuesday ordered Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to act on the plea of the supporters of former president and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Pampanga province, to halt the plunder trial against her.

Arroyo is charged at the Sandiganbayan for alleged misuse of P365.9-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) intelligence funds.

Lawyer Gleoresty Guerra, Acting Public Information Office Chief, said that the High Court ordered the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Solicitor General to file their comment on the petition for intervention filed by the “cabalens” of the former president.

The Office of the Ombudsman and Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza were given 10-days by the 15-man tribunal to comment on that issue.

A petition was filed before the court by Rico Ocampo, Eugene Paul Ponio, Marcelo Valencia and Joaquin Mañalac, seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the trial against the Pampanga lawmaker.

The petitioners, voters from second district of Pampanga which Arroyo represents, said that the order would enjoin the first division of the antigraft court and the Office of the Ombudsman from proceeding with the trial.

They said that because of the questioned indictment of Arroyo, her constituents are being deprived of due representation in the Congress.

The petitioners claimed that “they stand to benefit, or be prejudiced with respect to the outcome of the case at hand because it is our representation to the [Congress] that is unduly affected in this case.”

“The intervenors humbly submit that they have as much interest in this case because of the issue of undue deprivation of representation as guaranteed under the law,” they pointed out.

They said that Mrs. Arroyo was deprived of due process when the anti-graft court ordered her arrest on October 4, a day before a hearing was set on her motion questioning Ombudsman’s finding of probable cause against her indictment, which stems from the complaint filed by complainants Jaime Regalario, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and Danilo Lim.