SPEAKER Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was acqu itted by a Pasay City court of the charge of electoral sabotage, which the Department of Justice (DoJ) filed in 2011 over allegations that she, as president, was involved in cheating in the 2007 senatorial elections.

This was the last of the cases filed by the Aquino 3rd administration against Arroyo, all of which were unsuccessful.

Arroyo lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said the decision of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 112 was a “slap on the face” of Arroyo’s critics, notably, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel 3rd and former president Benigno Aquino 3rd.

The court, which heard the case for seven years, said the DoJ failed to prove Arroyo’s guilt. Arroyo had filed a demurrer to evidence, an opportunity for the defendant to move for the dismissal of the case, after the prosecution’s presentation of evidence.

House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Get the latest news
delivered to your inbox
Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters
By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

“For failure of the prosecution to prove the guilt of accused Arroyo beyond reasonable doubt and moral certainty despite ample opportunity and even without evidence in favor of said accused, the Demurrer to Evidence is granted and the charge of ‘Electoral Sabotage’ against accused Arroyo is hereby ordered dismissed,” Judge Jesus Mupas said in a six-page order.

Mupas also ordered the return of the P1-million bail that Arroyo posted in 2012.

The case stemmed from the testimony of Norie Unas, then provincial administrator of Ampatuan, Maguindanao, who said that Arroyo, the late Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and Lintang Bedol, ex-Commission on Elections (Comelec) official, had conspired to ensure that Arroyo’s 12 senatorial candidates swept the elections in Maguindanao.

“Dapat 12-0 sa Maguindanao, kahit ayusin o palitan pa ang resulta (It should be 12-0 in Maguindanao even if the results are changed or fixed),” the court read, quoting Unas’ account of the incident.

Unas said they allegedly tampered with provincial certificates of vote canvass, statement of votes by city or municipality and the summary statement of votes in Maguindanao.

Ampatuan was said to have ordered Bedol and Unas to carry out the task.

The court said there was no evidence to show that Arroyo committed the acts or participated in any of them.

“There was no showing that [Arroyo] committed any overt acts towards the commission of electoral sabotage, nor did she directly participate therein, or even exerted moral ascendancy over her co-accused to commit the crime.”

The same court dismissed similar charges against former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. due to lack of evidence and Ampatuan, also the prime suspect in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, due to his death in 2015.