
Activists protest in front of the Pasay City regional trial court in Manila on June 21, 2012, against former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s attempt to be granted bail by the high court. Arroyo was arrested in November 2011 after nearly 10 years in power and now awaiting trial on two separates charges of vote rigging and corruption. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Lawyers of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her accused in the alleged misuse of P366 million in charity funds are set to show the Sandiganbayan that the prosecution has failed to present enough evidence for the plunder cases to hold. Lawyer Vic Orocio, the legal counsel of one Arroyo’s co-accused Raymundo Roquero, said all the defense lawyers in the PCSO fund scam case would file a demurrer to evidence on Thursday. “It’s like a motion to dismiss the criminal case on the ground that the prosecution failed to prove the crime beyond reasonable doubt,” Orocio said. “[All the defense lawyers] will file a motion to demurrer of evidence since the prosecution’s evidence did not proving the elements of plunder. The only evidence they proved was all the accused are public officers,” he added. The prosecution against the incumbent Pampanga congresswoman and her co-accused in its case in May, saying it had no more witnesses to present. The Sandiganbayan First Division, in response, gave the state prosecutors 20 days to come up with a formal offer of evidence, a written document summarizing their case. The Sandiganbayan is Read More …