Former President now Pampanga Second District Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband, former first gentleman Mike Arroyo, flew back to the Philippines on Saturday morning from Amsterdam onboard a KLM Royal Dutch Airline flight.
“Just talk to my lawyers,” she answered when asked to comment on allegations that she is involved in election cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections as alleged by Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol. The couple arrived at 8:45 a.m. after two previous flight cancellations.
Bedol surfaced after months in hiding and renewed previous allegations that Mrs. Arroyo cheated in the last two elections. Records show that the first couple were seated at the business class section at seat numbers 5G and 5J.
Mrs. Arroyo who is wearing a cream white turtle neck shirt with black pants, red shoes with white stripes and cream white shoulder bag, while her husband was carrying two bags after disembarking from the plane.
They left Manila on June 29 for an undisclosed destination in Europe via Amsterdam with a July 14 return date. A reliable source who was onboard the same flight, a certain Remedios Poblador, asked the aide of the Congresswoman twice to hand over her siopao (Chinese bun) na baon ni ma’am.
“Iyong siopao ni ma’am asan na?” the source said quoting Poblador.
The couple were expected to return to Manila on July 14 and 15 but canceled their arrival at the last minute because the couple made a side trip to Lourdes in France before taking their flights back to Manila on July 16.
Mrs. Arroyo has deferred twice her scheduled return to Manila amid recent developments linking her to irregularities in the 2004 and 2007 elections and the fund controversy involving funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
Lawyer Frank Chavez had filed plunder charges against Mrs. Arroyo at the Department of Justice for allegedly using nearly P1.6 billion in fertilizer funds to bolster her presidential bid in 2004.
Arroyo was recently charged anew with plunder for approving the disbursement of millions of pesos from the PCSO intelligence funds.
Former PCSO Chairman Rosario Uriarte earlier revealed that she personally requested intelligence funds from then-President Arroyo who approved the request.
Mrs. Arroyo is also unfazed by revelations of former Maguindanao election official Lintang Bedol on alleged cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections, her lawyer Raul Lambino said in an earlier report. Bedol has accused Mrs. Arroyo of electoral fraud in Maguindanao in the 2004 and 2007 elections yet has no evidence to show.
“What is clear is that the former president did not talk to him and what he’s saying are all hearsay. This is basic in the rules of evidence, so these statements would not be accepted in court.” Lambino added. Mrs. Arroyo is likely to face charges, among which, are the Hello, Garci scandal; the botched ZTE- NBN deal, the fertilizer scam and the PCSO intelligence fund mess.
