By Czarina Nicole Ong and MB Online

The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division has upheld its dismissal of the graft charges against former president and current Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and two others in connection with the botched national broadband network deal with Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE.

The court denied the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration to its earlier resolution that dismissed the charges against Arroyo, husband Mike Arroyo and former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos.

The anti-graft court earlier granted Arroyo’s demurrer to evidence or a motion to dismiss the case for lack of sufficient evidence. The rules of court states an accused can file a demurrer to evidence after the prosecution rests its case.

The six-page resolution—signed by Associate Justices Jose Hernandez, Alex Quiroz, and Geraldine Faith Econg—said the prosecutors’ motion was denied for lack of merit as they provided no new arguments or allegations.

“It would be difficult to determine the participation of Arroyo under the doctrine of qualified political agency, inasmuch as she could not have performed any direct act since precisely, the act of signing the contract was performed by her alter-ego, then [Transportation and Communications] Secretary Leandro Mendoza,” the resolution read.

Mendoza, who was also the former police chief, died in 2013.

The former First Couple and Abalos were earlier slapped with charges of violation of Section 3(g) of R.A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for reportedly taking advantage of their positions and fast-tracking the NBN-ZTE deal to the government’s detriment.

The earlier decision by the Sandiganbayan has effectively cleared Arroyo of all charges filed against her as president.

In July, the Supreme Court granted her motion to dismiss her plunder case in connection with the questionable release of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s P366-million intelligence funds in 2009 and 2010, just before the former leader stepped down.