Sandigan asked to hasten Arroyo plunder hearings due to failing health

House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — House minority leader Danilo Suarez, an ally of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, urged the Sandiganbayan First Division to fast-track the hearings on the Pampanga lawmaker’s plunder case due to her failing health.

“We appeal to the Sandiganbayan to immediately conduct hearings on her case and determine if there is indeed probable cause,” he told reporters asking for his comment on the recent approval of the anti-graft court of continued hospital arrest for Arroyo at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC).

Suarez however said that he was requested by the former President to no longer issue statements on her health but added that he would pay her a visit tonight to see how she was doing, insisting that the government up till now is not considering Arroyo’s poor health condition.

The anti-graft court granted the Arroyo camp’s request for hospital arrest Wednesday morning but with the condition that she remained at the VMMC; that her security and access to communication gadgets be under the full control of the Philippine National Police; that media interviews be allowed only if authorized by the court; and that she shoulder her hospital expenses.

Arroyo’s lawyer Anacleto Diaz admitted to the Sandiganbayan that certain “courtesies” have been given to the former President at the VMMC although his client had been paying for most of her medical expenses.