The eight-page supplemental motion for reconsideration submitted by Mrs. Arroyo’s camp in February claimed that the former Philippine leader deserves temporary freedom due to her health condition.
But Mrs. Arroyo’s lawyers said they have yet to receive a copy of the resolution, adding that they will have to study it first before making their next move.
“Narinig ko lang sa balita, pero hindi pa kami nakakakita ng decision. Hindi ko pa alam yung next move namin, if we will appeal the same, or we will let it be,” lawyer Modesto Ticman told GMA News Online over the phone.
In their appeal in February, Mrs. Arroyo’s camp said their petition should be taken separately from their earlier bail petitions, which attacked the “weakness and insufficiency of the prosecution’s evidence.” They also said that Mrs. Arroyo is “not a flight risk.”
“The possibility of President Arroyo’s escape, bearing in mind her official and social standing and her other personal circumstances, is remote, if not nil,” the motion said.
The defense also assured the court that Mrs. Arroyo will not flee, should she be allowed to post bail.
Mrs. Arroyo is currently under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City for allegedly conspiring to fraudulently divert P366 million in confidential PCSO intelligence funds “for personal gain” from 2008 to 2010. — Patricia Denise Chiu/RSJ, GMA News
