Arroyo to ask court for permission to attend late brother's ‘pa-siyam’

Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will again ask the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court to allow her to attend her the ninth day of mourning for her late brother.

 

According to a report on GMA's “24 Oras Weekend” on Saturday, the Sandiganbayan on Thursday allowed Arroyo to attend her elder brother Arturo Macapagal's wake on August 13 and the Mass and inurnmenton August 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

 

The court did not grant her initial request to attend the ninth day of mourning, or pa-siyam, for Macapagal scheduled on August 19.

 

The pa-siyam is a Filipino tradition where prayers like the rosary are said for nine evenings in memory of the deceased. The ninth evening is usually marked with a service and a formal meal.

 

Arroyo was able to attend the necrological service for Arturo at the Heritage Park on Saturday but missed the inurnment since she was only allowed to be there until 2 p.m.

 

Arroyo, who also complained of back pain, was brought back to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City where she is under hospital arrest.

 

The former president has been under hospital arrest at the VMMC since October 2012 in relation to a plunder case against her for the alleged misuse of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office's intelligence fund during her administration. — Andrei Medina/JDS, GMA News