Strengthen case vs Arroyo by filing 'fertilizer scam' case, Ombudsman told

MANILA – Two progressive groups challenged the Ombudsman on Sunday to charge Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the so-called “fertilizer fund scam,” saying it would strengthen the existing case against the former president, who has been arrested for alleged electoral sabotage.


“The fertilizer fund scam case would strengthen the charges and pin down (sic) Arroyo,” said Danilo Ramos, secretary-general of the peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), referring to the P728-million agricultural funds that Arroyo allegedly used for her presidential campaign in the 2004 elections, in which she was accused of massive cheating and fraud.

KMP and the party-list group Anakpawis, in a statement, said the Ombudsman should “immediately indict former president Arroyo and file a plunder case before the Sandiganbayan.”

Last month, the Sandiganbayan announced that it had completed its review of the fertilizer fund case but no case has been filed against the former president so far.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III threw his full support behind Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in her efforts to pursue Arroyo’s prosecution.

by Karl John C. Reyes
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