Atty. Ferdinand Topacio

Topacio is legal counsel for former Philippine First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. He represented Arroyo in his petition before the Supreme Court asking that Department Circular No. 41 of the Department of Justice be invalidated for being unconstitutional. He also filed a separate case before the Supreme Court questioning the legality of a joint order of the Justice Department and the Commission on Elections creating a joint panel to investigate allegations of poll fraud during the 2004 and 2007 general elections. Department of Justice. Topacio himself paid the 2 million peso bond required by the Supreme Court after it issued a temporary restraining order on 15 November 2011 allowing the former President to leave the country. After Arroyo was refused departure from the country despite the Supreme Court order, Topacio expressed confidence that his client would return to the country if allowed departure, and announced in a televised interview that should Arroyo not return to the Philippines, he would have one of his testicles removed. Counsel of Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. This remark was widely publicized in media, and commented upon in the social media site Twitter where it “trended” for some time. The former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was subsequently arrested on 18 November 2011 for the crime of "Electoral Sabotage" which carries a penalty of life imprisonment and detained under Hospital Arrest at Veterans Memorial Medical Center. On 25 July 2012, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was released upon posting a 1 Million Peso cash bail after the Pasay Regional Trial Court found the evidence against her “weak