"It's all hearsay."

 

This was how former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo described the testimony of former Maguindanao provincial administrator Norie Unas before a Pasay City court that former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had ordered then-Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. to ensure the victory of administration senatorial bets in the province in the 2007 elections.

 

Unas served with the Ampatuans from 2001 to 2009. He also served as Andal Sr.'s close adviser and spokesman. Andal Sr. and his three sons, Andal Jr., Zaldy, and Akhmad, are implicated in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre of 57 people in the province.

 

"[Unas is a] guy who is not even credible," Mr. Arroyo told reporters at the Sandiganbayan Friday where he attended a hearing on a graft case in connection with the alleged anomalous purchase of helicopters by the National Police in 2009. 

 

He added that since Unas' testimony supposedly cannot be proven, Mr. Arroyo said he expects the judge to grant the bail for his wife Mrs. Arroyo.

 

"She's very sad because she is such a workaholic and then she is detained... she is still innocent until proven guilty," he said. 

 

Mrs. Arroyo and former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos, together with other officials, were charged with electoral sabotage in connection with alleged fraud during the 2007 midterm elections.

 

Mrs. Arroyo is also facing graft charges before the Sandiganbayan. She has been under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City since December last year. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News