Arroyo transferred to ICU

MANILA, Philippines – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center on Friday after several tests showed she is at risk of a heart attack.

VMMC Director Nona F. Legaspi said various tests done on Mrs. Arroyo indicated that the former president is currently suffering from "ischemia."

"Considering the forgoing, the patient is not dischargable at this time," Legaspi told reporters in a press briefing Friday afternoon.

Legaspi explained that ischemia is a condition where not enough blood is circulating in the coronary arteries due to blockage.

"Medyo ominous iyan. It is not something that you can just forego with. You have to monitor the patient. That's why we transferred her to the ICU. May medicines, the cardiologist will take care of that," she said.

"Ischemia should not be taken lightly. That can progress to full blown myocardial infarction, or in layman's term, a heart attack.," she added, noting that the former president needs to undergo further medical examinations.

Legaspi said Arroyo is not allowed to engage in any activity while inside the ICU.

"Ngayon dapat binabatanayan siya and everybody knows, I think there is no need to overemphazise that the heart is important," Legaspi said.

Arroyo was admitted to the ICU on Friday even as her arraignment for a plunder case was scheduled on Monday, October 15.

Earlier, her lawyers filed a formal written motion before the Sandiganbayan to defer the arraignment.

The motion accused the Office of the Ombudsman of committing "grave abuse of discretion" in finding probable cause in the plunder case against Mrs. Arroyo.

It said the former President plans to file a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court to nullify and set aside the resolutions of the Ombudsman finding probable cause in the case.

The lawyers argued they need more time to prepare the petition for certiorari before the SC, hence the need to defer the arraignment on Monday, October 15.

Legaspi said it remains indefinite when Arroyo could be discharged.

"In the practice of medicine you think of the worst condition until proven otherwise. In a situation where the patient is diagnosed to have ischemia, you will think of that blockage in the coronary artieres until proven otherwise," she said.

"Sometimes pwede bumalik lahat yan. It is better to put her in the ICU for monitoring and then tell 'okay, that was nothing,' rather than take it for granted and all of a sudden you are caught unaware, and it turns around."

source: abs-cbnnews.com

'Frustrated' Arroyo pleads 'not guilty'

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

Intl day vs corruption marks Gloria Arroyo’s 1st day in govt detention

Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was transferred to a makeshift government detention facility at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) on Friday, which coincidentally marks the United Nations (UN)-designated International Anti-Corruption Day.

It could not have happened at a better time, netizens said.

“There’s a rhyme and reason to things, synchronicity,” said Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party spokesperson Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel through her Twitter account @risahontiveros.

Other netizens expressed similar views.

source: gmanetwork.com

Corona argument on Arroyo watch list order centers on right to life

Unlike his fellow magistrates who focused on a person's right to travel, Chief Justice Renato Corona instead centered on the right to life during Tuesday's oral arguments for and against the watch list orders issued against the Arroyo couple.

During the latter part of the arguments, Corona posed a question to Anacleto Diaz, counsel for former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, on what does he think is the right violated by the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Department Circular 41, which paved the way for the watch list order against the Arroyo couple.

Diaz took the stand to insist the watch list order violated Mrs. Arroyo’s right to travel, which they described as "absolute" and was enshrined under Section 6 Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

In response to Corona's question, Diaz said: "I place a person's right to life paramount to all other rights."

Corona uttered back: "Yes, right to life. That's a right guaranteed not only by the Philippine Constitution but also guaranteed by the United Nations Human Rights Commission."

Added Corona, who was one of the 12 current magistrates appointed by Mrs. Arroyo while she was president: "[A person has a right] to live life as life should be lived."

No basis

Diaz claimed there was no basis for the DOJ to issue DC 41, which he said was "violative of a person's right to travel. "Public officials should not be allowed to strike when and where they please. They should not be allowed to use unchanneled governmental power," he said.

Under the Constitution, a person's right to travel should not be impaired except in the interest of national security, public, health, and public safety.

Diaz said there is no law authorizing the DOJ to issue a watch list or a hold departure order to anyone being subjected to a preliminary investigation by the department.

"With the absence of any law, there is no basis for DC No. 41. It is clear that DC is clearly violative of a person’s right to travel," he said.

For his part, Justice Antonio Carpio likened the issuance of a watch list order to the issuance of a subpoena. "A prosecutor can issue a subpoena during preliminary investigation compelling respondents to appear," he said.

"The prosecution can also inform the immigration service not to allow the departure of respondents until he or she complies with the subpoena," Carpio added.

Satisfied

Justice Diosdado Peralta openly said he was "satisfied" with Diaz's explanation. Contradicting Carpio, Peralta said: "A subpoena is not equal to a hold departure order."

But unlike Corona and Peralta, Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno seemed unconvinced with Diaz's arguments.

Corona and Peralta were among eight justices who earlier voted in favor of a temporary restraining order against the watch list orders. The TRO rendered the Arroyo couple free to travel abroad.

Sereno and Caprio, on the other hand, were among the five justices who dissented.

"Why are we going to make an exceptional case and not make a presumption that the Arroyo administration did not believe that?" Sereno asked Diaz.

Mistake

The associate justice noted that under the Arroyo administration, more than 6,000 people became subject of a watch list or a hold departure order by virtue of Department Circulars 17 and 18.

In response, Diaz admitted it was a "mistake" when government officials under the Arroyo administration enforced the plethora of watch list and hold departure orders issued at the time.

The watch list order issued against the Arroyo couple was based on DC 41, which superseded the previous DC 17 and 18. DC 41 was issued in May 2010, still during Mrs. Arroyo's tenure as chief executive.

The subject of Tuesday's oral arguments was the couple's separate petitions questioning the legality of the watch list order and DC 14, saying they were violative of their right to travel. The Arroyo camp also said they should not be placed on the watch list since no criminal cases have been filed against them at the time.

An electoral sabotage case, however, has since been filed against Mrs. Arroyo and two other government officials, former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. and former Maguindanao provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol.

Mr. Arroyo, meanwhile, was spared from the charges and was taken off the watch list Tuesday, along with seven other individuals, including former Justice Secretary Alberto Agra, who was Mrs. Arroyo's election lawyer in previous elections. - KBK, GMA News

source: gmanews.tv