Arroyo prepares entourage for holiday furlough in Pampanga

Former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. AP PHOTO

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had arranged for her private therapists to be stationed at a district hospital in Floridablanca or at a provincial hospital in Guagua during her planned 16-day furlough to celebrate Christmas and New Year with her family in her hometown Lubao, Pampanga.

There would be no therapists available at the Veteran’s Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) during the holiday break, which is why she had asked the Sandiganbayan, through her lawyers from Diaz, Del Rosario & Associates, to get out of her hospital suite.

She has made arrangements with the Romana Pangan district hospital in Floridablanca and the Diosdado Macapagal provincial hospital in Guagua for her physical therapy.

The former president also wants to bring 20 police escorts during her planned furlough from Dec. 21 to Jan. 5.

Arroyo’s lawyers said she has promised to obtain a medical certificate, comply with all the security protocol, shoulder all the costs of her security escorts and return to VMMC before 9 a.m. on Jan. 6.

Arroyo has been detained after being accused by the Sandiganbayan of having a direct hand in allegedly diverting P366-million confidential intelligence funds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during her administration.

Arroyo has been cooped up at the VMMC since October, with the filing of plunder charges against her at the Sandiganbayan.

Arroyo’s coaccused, former PCSO chairman and board member Manuel “Manoling” Morato, has also filed a new manifestation urging the Sandiganbayan to allow him to be detained in his ancestral house in Quezon City instead of a regular jail.

The 79-year-old Morato underwent a triple bypass and valve replacement in Oct. 22  and his lawyers claim he needs to stay at home to recover.