MANILA, Philippines - (UPDATE 4 - 9:25 a.m.) A "frustrated" former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo personally entered a plea of not guilty on charges of electoral sabotage at the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Thursday morning.
Arroyo, now second district representative of Pampanga, entered her plea before Judge Jesus Mupas at around 8:55 a.m., around 15 minutes after arriving at the court from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, where she has been detained since late last year after she was ordered arrested by Judge Jesus Mupas.
Her husband, Jose Miguel, and sons Juan Miguel, representative of the Ang Galing Pinoy party-list, and Diosdado, representative of Camarines Sur, were with her at her arraignment.
Arroyo's husband, who arrived with eldest son Mikey, ahead of the former president, told reporters his wife was "frustrated" over the "injustice" being done to her.
"There is no case against her," he said.
Diosdado accompanied his mother in the convoy from the VMMC and escorted her into the courtroom along with Arroyo's spokesperson Elena Bautista-Horn.
Arroyo was in a cream coat and wore a neck brace.
After the arraignment, Arroyo lawyer Ferdinand Topacio told New5 that they had finished the "first step to clearing" her name and are "ready to go to trial."
The pretrial conference has been scheduled on April 19.
Arroyo returned to the VMMC soon after she was arraigned.
The case against Arroyo, filed by the Commission on Elections last November, has to do with alleged widespread cheating during the 2007 mid-term elections, when, among others, the senatorial slate of her administration managed a 0-12 sweep of Maguindanao province.
Her co-respondents are former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. and former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol. Arroyo's husband was excluded for lack of evidence.
Ampatuan is detained at the Camp Bagong Diwa jail in Taguig City along with others accused of the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan massacre in which 58 people, 32 of them media workers, were killed. Bedol is under the custody of the Comelec and Department of Justice.
Before the Comelec filed the charges, Arroyo had attempted to leave the country, ostensibly to seek treatment for a hormonal condition.
She managed to secure a temporary restraining order against her and her husband's inclusion in the government's travel watch list, which required them to seek clearance before leaving the country. However, she was stopped at the airport by immigration officials on orders of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.
The electoral sabotage case practically rendered the TRO moot.
A group of Arroyo supporters, some from as far as Pampanga, had gathered near the Pasay City Hall as early as 6:30 a.m.
A media pool of two reporters, a photojournalist and one television cameraman has been allowed inside the courtroom to cover the arraignment.
On Wednessday, the National Capital Regional Police Office, announcing tight security measures, said media would be barred from the court and its immediate vicinity. (with a report from Clara Masinag, InterAksyon.com)
source: interaksyon.com
