Arroyo calls for ‘forgiveness, unity’ this Holy Week

MANILA, Philippines—Former president and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who will be spending her 65th birthday while in detention at a military hospital in Quezon City, is calling for “forgiveness, unity and healing of all wounds” this Lenten season.

“To our countrymen, let us pray for forgiveness this Lenten Season and continue to be inspired by the love bestowed on us by Jesus and the sacrifice He made to redeem our sins,” Arroyo said in a statement Tuesday, two days before her birthday.

“I hope there will be no more strife or grief caused by disunity. It is my fervent hope that we will be truly united in the pursuit of long lasting happiness and prosperity,” she wrote in Filipino.

“Let us pray so hard that wounds will be healed soon, with faith and resolve to help one another and move as a nation towards a brighter future,” she continued.

Arroyo said her birthday wish is for “divine providence (to) protect our country and all Filipinos from any calamities, disasters and hardships that may come our way.”

The former president has been detained since November last year after a Pasay regional trial court ordered her arrest for election sabotage in the 2007 senatorial elections.