“Former President
Arroyo’s mug shot taken from her hospital bed at the St. Luke’s
Hospital in Taguig which have been circulated in the Internet is
different from what the PNP CIDG had taken,” the DILG chief said.
According to Robredo,
the official mug shot of the former President taken by the PNP
Criminal Investigation and Detection Group last Saturday, a copy of
which was submitted to him, bears all the case details on the
“information booking plate.”
“The information
booking plate of the original mug shot photo of the former President
contains her name: Gloria Arroyo Y Macapagal, the Republic Act or
electoral sabotage case she violated and the case number from the
Pasay City Regional Trial Court,” he said.
“Based on what has
appeared in the Internet, it appeared that the booking numbers below
the published photos were ‘photoshopped’ and are different from the
reports submitted to me,” he added.
Earlier, when asked if
Arroyo’s camp would attempt to stop any moves to have her mug shots
released, her counsel Jose Flaminiano said her camp “won’t bother to
file a motion regarding that issue.”
A warrant of arrest
was served Friday after the Pasay
RTC found probable cause on the electoral sabotage case filed
against her. Her mug shots were taken inside her hospital bed where
she had been confined since Tuesday last week.
The Pasay City RTC has
stated that Mrs. Arroyo’s mug shots will not be released unless both
the prosecution and defense panels agree. The mug shots are deemed
property of the police and are not public property.
When the former
President’s mug shot photos were taken, there were only seven persons
present, and they include her, former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, her
son Albay Rep. Dato Arroyo, a former Arroyo cabinet secretary and
three personnel from the PNP CIDG.
Acting Southern
Police District Director Sr. Supt. James Bucayu, who confirmed that
the published mug shots were authentic, was not around when the
booking photos were taken.
