PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd’s newest appointee to the Supreme Court (SC), Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, was assigned to handle the plunder case of former president and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Pampanga province.

Leonen is the ponente or the writer of the case of Arroyo and other accused in the alleged diversion of the P366 million confidential intelligence fund of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

He will be tasked to handle the case after two SC magistrates refused the case of the former chief executive.

Justice Diosdado Peralta inhibited himself from the case out of delicadeza. He told the high court that his brother-in-law, lawyer Cornelio Aldon, is the legal counsel of former PCSO board of director Raymundo Roquero during the Senate investigation on the PCSO fund scam. Roquero is a co-accused in the scam case and one of the petitioners before the 15-man tribunal.

The case was passed to Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe, another appointee Aquino appointee to the Court. Bernabe unloaded the case to a more junior member of the 15-man tribunal on December 4 during the regular en banc of the SC.

The case eventually went to Leonen, the most junior magistrate.

The Court has decided to consolidate the cases of the accused in the PCSO fund scam. In a two-page Resolution dated November 20, the SC ordered to merge the cases of former director Nilda Plaras of Commission on Audit (COA) Region 5 along with that of Roquero and Arroyo.

Plaras’ case was formerly with the SC Third Division and the SC en banc has ruled to accept the case for the disposition of the court.

Roquero; Rosario Uriarte and Benigno Aguas, former PCSO general manager and assistant general manager, respectively; Sergio Valencia, ex-PCSO chairman; former PCSO board members Manuel “Manoling” Morato, Jose Taruc 5th, Roquero and Maria Fatima Valdez; and Reynaldo Villar, former chairman of COA are among the accused charged with Arroyo and Plaras.

Arroyo did not enter any plea during her arraignment at the Sandiganbayan on October 29 on the charge that she had plundered P366 million in state lottery funds during her time as president.

The Office of the Ombudsman accused Arroyo along with other lottery and Commission on Audit officials of the fund scam between 2008 and 2010.

The High Court excluded Plaras from being arrested along with Arroyo and eight others accused after the tribunal issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in favor of Plaras, the former head of COA’s Intelligence Fund Unit.

On the day of the arraignment of Arroyo, the SC issued a resolution dated October 24 granting Plaras’ petition for certiorari with prayer for TRO and/or writ of preliminary injunction. Plaras’ petition was filed on October 19.

The tribunal clarified that the order does not cover Arroyo and other accused. Arroyo had a pending petition for certiorari lodged on October 24.