Philippine court clears Arroyo of plunder, orders her freed

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2012 file photo, former Philippine President and now Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, center, arrives at a Pasay City Court for her arraignment on electoral fraud charges in Manila. The Philippine Supreme Court has dismissed the plunder charge against former PresidentArroyo, ordering her immediate release from nearly five years of hospital detention. Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said Tuesday, July 19, 2016, the 15 justices voted 11-4 granting Arroyo’s petition seeking the dismissal of the remaining plunder case against her before an anti-graft court for lack of evidence. The case is about the alleged misuse of 366 million pesos ($7.8 million) of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office fund. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2012 file photo, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo waves to the crowd from the window of her van as she came to a court arraignment for election sabotage at the Regional Trial Court in suburban Pasay City south of Manila, Philippines. The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday, July 19, 2016, dismissed a plunder charge against former President Arroyo and ordered her immediate release from nearly five years of hospital detention.(AP Photo/Pat Roque, File) (The Associated Press)

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plunder charge against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, ordering her immediate release from nearly five years of hospital detention.

Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said the 15 justices voted 11-4 to grant Arroyo's petition seeking the dismissal of the plunder case before an anti-graft court because of a lack of evidence. The case involved the alleged misuse of 366 million pesos ($7.8 million) of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office fund.

The 69-year-old Arroyo, who is suffering from a neck ailment, finished her tumultuous nine-year term in 2010, but was arrested the following year on an election fraud charge, for which she was allowed to post bail. She was later charged with plunder.

Despite her detention, she was re-elected to Congress in May.

Arroyo was detained under former President Benigno Aquino III, who has accused her of corruption and misrule. Aquino's successor, Rodrigo Duterte, however, took a different position, saying the plunder case against her was weak and offering to grant her a pardon to pave the way for her release.

Arroyo rejected the offer, saying she had to be convicted first of a crime to be eligible for a pardon, and that she preferred to fight the allegation.

Duterte has appointed a number of Arroyo allies to his Cabinet, including his advisers on national security and peace talks with Marxist and Muslim guerrillas.