MANILA: Unless the Supreme Court (SC) issues a temporary restraining order (TRO), former President and now Pampanga Rep Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be arraigned on Monday, according to Sandiganbayan spokesman Renato Bocar.
As of yesterday, the anti-graft court’s First Division had issued no order cancelling the arraignment, Bocar said. This means that the scheduled arraignment on Monday “will proceed unless restrained by the Supreme Court,” he said.
Arroyo filed a petition for certiorari before the SC on Wednesday questioning her indictment before the Sandiganbayan. Arroyo, through her lawyer Anacleto Diaz, is seeking a TRO from the SC in an effort to stop the Office of the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan from proceeding with the plunder case.
Arroyo claimed she was wrongly prosecuted for crimes she did not commit, denying any involvement in the alleged misuse of funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during her presidency.
Director Diosdado Calonge, head of the Ombudsman’s prosecution team, agreed with Bocar that Monday’s arraignment should push through unless a TRO is issued.
Former PCSO board member Manuel Morato, also a respondent in the criminal charge, is also scheduled for arraignment on Monday. However, it is uncertain if Morato would be able to appear since he underwent heart surgery at the St Luke’s Medical Centre earlier this week.
One of his lawyers, Dennis Manicad, said yesterday that Morato is still recuperating in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Arroyo herself is under hospital arrest, having been confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Centre (VMMC) because of aggressively worsening health problems. Arroyo’s principal congressman-ally, Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, said Arroyo could be physically fit to attend her arraignment on Monday, but only if the hearings would take only an hour.
“I’m not a doctor and I really don’t know her physical capability to go to court, but if the hearing lasts for just an hour, I think she can,” he said. Suarez said he and 16 other Arroyo allies recently visited the former president at her VMMC suite.
“It was an occasion that was festive, meaning, the president was happy because her colleagues paid her a visit. We were joking about those who are running unopposed,” Suarez said. “But if you look at her body language, you will see that she has moments of pain, she didn’t feel well,” he added.
The Philippine star
