“Although not keeping with the Christmas spirit and the Filipino tradition, matatanggap na namin yan. Sabi nga what you cannot equal, you approximate,” said 1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III in a chance interview.
The Sandiganbayan, where Arroyo has a pending graft case, allowed her family to spend Christmas and New Year with her in her suite at the Veterans Medical Memorial Center (VMMC) where she is under hospital arrest.
Arroyo’s relatives will be allowed to stay until midnight at the hospital on Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
“Although it’s for a very short period, I hope it will do wonders for her very very poor health,” said Bello, a Cabinet official under the Arroyo administration.
Bello has asked the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court to Arroyo, currently a Pampanga lawmaker, a Christmas furlough “for humanitarian and compassionate considerations.”
Arroyo is under hospital arrest for a plunder case in connection with the alleged misuse of P366-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) intelligence funds during her incumbency.
Arroyo herself didn’t request for a furlough, but her husband, Mike Arroyo, appealed to President Benigno Aquino III to allow his wife to go home.
Bello hypothesized that Aquino did not file for a furlough since she has been repeatedly denied in the past.
“Siguro she didn’t ask anymore considering marami siyang motions na not positively granted by the Sandiganbayan. She has her reasons,” he said.
But Bello said he would still attempt to ask for a furlough for Arroyo.
“It’s basically for health reasons. Sabi ng doctors her bonding with the family might do her health some good,” he said.
“Very encouraging yung response ng congressmen, so I’m optimistic,” he added, noting the “more than 70 signatures” on his resolution.
But Bello reiterated that the final say will always rest with the Sandiganbayan. — Patricia Denise Chiu/KBK, GMA News
