Gloria Arroyo wants 5-hour furlough to visit ailing brother

Former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has asked the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to allow her to leave her detention for five hours on Tuesday to visit her terminally ill older brother.

 

In a motion submitted to the Sandiganbayan First Division on Friday but was only made available to the media on Monday, Arroyo asked the court to allow her to stay at the Makati Medical Center (MMC) on Tuesday, August 11 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., exclusive of the travel time to be with her brother, Arturo Macapagal, who is suffering from a stage four prostate cancer.

 

"President Arroyo once again comes before the Honorable Court as a supplicant. She is constrained by terrible circumstances to ask the Honarable Court for permission to visit her brother as soon as possible, while he is still alive and can still recognize her," Arroyo, through her legal counsels, said in a two-page motion.

 

Arroyo informed the court that her brother has been confined at the MMC since July 2 and remains bed-ridden at the hospital's intensive care unit (ICU). Arroyo said her brother's doctors are of the opinion that his condition may worsen in the coming days due to the advance stage of his ailment.

 

"Mr. Macapagal, who is already 72 years old, may not have long to live. His cancer has spread to his brain, bones and lungs. While the family continues to pray for a miracle, the doctors are of the opinion that Mr. Macapagal's condition may further decline in the coming days," Arroyo's motion read.

 

Arroyo is facing a plunder case before the First Division in connection with the alleged misuse of P366 million intelligence fund of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during her term as President.

 

She is under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City since October 2012.

 

In further convincing the court to grant her plea, Arroyo reiterated that she is not a flight risk and has no intention of fleeing the country.

 

Arroyo also pointed out that she is not asking for a special treatment but just a fair treatment that should be accorded to any other detention prisoners whose guilt are not yet proven.

 

"President Arroyo is still presumed innocent by the law. She is not a flight risk and has no intention of fleeing. She just wants to spend more precious time with her terminally ill brother," Arroyo said.

 

"President Arroyo respectfully submits that she is not asking for special treatment. It is consistent with justice and the exercise of reasonable discretion to permit similarly situated accused (i.e. those presumed innocent, not flight risks and have dying siblings) to be given the opportunity to visit a dying family member," Arroyo added.

 

Finally, Arroyo assured the First Division that she will comply with all the conditions and parameters that the court may impose should her request be granted.

 

In November last year, the First Division has allowed Arroyo to leave her detention for six days to attend the wake of her months-old grandson who died from a congenital heart disease.

 

In December of that year, the court also granted Arroyo a four-day Christmas furlough to be with her family. —ALG, GMA News