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