Court lets Mike Arroyo travel to Hong Kong, Japan again

Former first Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ/INQUIRER

A month after visiting Japan and Hong Kong, the husband of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been allowed by the antigraft court to return to the two places.

The Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division, which is handling Jose Miguel Arroyo’s graft case in connection with the national broadband network deal, ordered him to post a P90,000 travel bond in its resolution approved on Monday afternoon.

Arroyo is scheduled to leave for Japan on June 16 and will return to the country on June 23.

But Arroyo will have to seek permission from another Sandiganbayan division before he can actually head for Japan.

The antigraft court’s Second Division issued a hold departure order for Arroyo on June 8, in connection with another case—the controversial sale of second-hand helicopters to the Philippine National Police.

Arroyo may have to subject himself to conditional arraignment before he can leave the country, according to clerk of court Jaime Cabrera.

Arroyo posted P30,000 bail before the Second Division on Wednesday for the helicopter graft case even before the court had issued any warrant against him.

The accused are allowed to post bail even before warrants have been issued against them. Several of Arroyo’s co-accused have also posted bail, namely Senior Superintendent Job Antonio, Director Leocadio Santiago, Superintendent Ermilando Villafuerte, Senior Superintendent Mansue Lukban, Chief Inspector Josefina Recometa, Senior Police Officer 3 Linda Padojinog, and nonuniformed personnel Ruben Gongona.

In asking permission to travel to Japan this month, Arroyo told the court he intends to meet with the Filipino community in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo, “to hold further discussions regarding their concerns.” He said the community, represented by Evelyn Solis, had invited him.

Arroyo also said he intends to travel to Hong Kong before returning to the Philippines. He said he has to attend to some business matters for the LTA Inc., of which he is President.

He said he was entitled to his constitutional right to travel because he was considered innocent until proven otherwise.

Prosecutors objected to Arroyo’s latest motion to leave the country, saying he had no valid reason to go to Japan and speak before the Filipino community. They noted that he was a private individual and never held any position in government.

In his earlier trip to Japan in May, Arroyo said he spoke before the Filipino community and also met with Japanese businessmen to entice them to invest in energy-related projects in the country. Before returning from that May trip, he also passed by Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, former PNP chief Jesus Verzosa and Chief Superintendent Herold Ubalde, Arroyo’s co-accused in the helicopter sale case, have asked the Sandiganbayan Second Division to dismiss the case or to postpone the proceedings while their motions before other bodies are pending. With Tetch Torres, INQUIRER.net

Originally posted at 02:47 pm | Wednesday, June 13,  2012