Jan 312014
 
Even while in hospital detention, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo got to celebrate Chinese New Year with an afternoon of tikoy (glutinous rice cake) and pancit shared with several Roman Catholic nuns.

In a phone interview, Arroyo’s legal spokesman, lawyer Raul Lambino, said 12 nuns from Bulacan visited the detained former President at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) on Friday afternoon.

Arroyo and the nuns talked about her “faith” and “pro-life stance” while eating Chinese delicacies, Lambino said.

“Alam niyo namang Assumptionista rin si former President. Laking kumbento kaya maraming napag-usapan. Napagkwentuhan ang kanyang student life,” Lambino, who was present during the nuns’ visit, said over the phone.

The nuns prayed for Arroyo’s well-being and immediate recovery before leaving the hospital, he added.

The nuns were not the first religious workers to visit Arroyo this week. Last Sunday, five Catholic bishops also paid visit to the former President.

Last week, former First Lady and incumbent Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos also spent time with Arroyo at the VMMC.

Earlier this month, Arroyo was also visited by former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Fidel V. Ramos, fuelling talks that they are forming an alliance in preparation for the 2016 national polls.

Asked if Arroyo will host more high-profile personalities from her hospital suite in the coming weeks, Lambino said, “Medyo ganoon,” but refused to elaborate.

Arroyo, incumbent congresswoman of Pampanga’s second district, is currently detaine while facing the plunder case.

She also has a pending poll sabotage case before a Pasay court, and a graft case for the botched national broadband deal with Chinese firm ZTE under her presidency. She has pleaded not guilty to both cases. — KBK, GMA News

Jan 262014
 
5 bishops visit Gloria Arroyo at VMMC

Five Catholic bishops on Sunday visited former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at a government hospital in Quezon City, the latest among high-profile personalities to do so. The five led a Mass in Arroyo’s suite at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, radio dzBB’s Rowena Salvacion reported. The report said those who visited Arroyo were: – Archbishop Rolando Tirona (Nueva Caceres, Naga)– Archbishop Neri Odchimar (Tandag)– Bishop Emilio Marquez (Quezon)– Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan and Bishop Ramon Villena (Nueva Vizcaya). During the homily, the bishops said they wanted to “share love and compassion” to someone being allegedly harassed and persecuted, the report quoted Arroyo spokesman and defeated senatorial bet Raul Lambino as saying. Arroyo has been under hospital arrest at the VMMC since December 2011, on charges of electoral sabotage. She has since been charged as well with plunder, a non-bailable offense. Since the past weeks, the former leader has been visited by several high-profile personalities, including predecessor Joseph Estrada and former Vice President Noli de Castro, and former President Fidel V. Ramos. Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz was also among those who visited Arroyo much earlier. — LBG, GMA News

Dec 072013
 
Palace: Up to court to decide on Christmas furlough for Gloria Arroyo

Christmas decors and amenities at Marikina Riverbanks.(MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Malacañang on Thursday said it will be up to the court to decide on whether to allow former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo  to spend the Christmas holidays with her family. “She is under the jurisdiction of the courts and we defer to the court’s jurisdiction of the courts and we defer to the court’s judgment if and when the former President of her lawyers will make such request,” Communications Secretary Hermino Coloma said. 1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III, who served in the Arroyo Cabinet, has called on the Sandiganbayan to grant a Christmas furlough for the former Philippine leader. Arroyo, now a congresswoman representing Pampanga’s second district, is under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City for a plunder case in connection with the alleged misuse of P366-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) intelligence funds during her incumbency. She was earlier allowed to post bail in connection with the electoral sabotage case pending before the Pasay Regional Trial Court. In Resolution No. 537, Bello said he is “requesting the Sandiganbayan to grant Honorable Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, former President of the Philippines and incumbent representative of the second district of Pampanga a Christmas furlough for humanitarian and compassionate considerations.” Bello, who is a current member of the Makabayan bloc within the minority, said he filed the resolution in consideration of Arroyo’s health. During the Arroyo administration, Bello held various government posts, including Cabinet Secretary and Presidential Read More …