Critics say Arroyo should be allowed to seek treatment abroad

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo FILE PHOTO

Even former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s fiercest critics are for letting her go abroad to seek medical treatment for what ails her.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, who had made a series of exposés against Arroyo and her family, was uncharacteristically sympathetic to the plight of the ex-president, who recently underwent delicate neck surgery more than once to correct her spine.

“Because of her serious condition, we should now be united. Let’s not oppose her desire to seek treatment anywhere in the world,” said Lacson in Filipino.

“Whatever her sins to our country, since it’s her life on the line, we should all be one in wishing and praying for her condition to improve,” he added.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate President Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada agreed.

“It’s her life we’re talking about here… I don’t think the former president will escape the country to avoid anything. I think she will probably face the charges herself,” said Enrile, alluding to the plunder and other charges filed against Arroyo since she stepped down in 2010.

Besides, Enrile recalled that during the time of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, President Aquino’s father and namesake, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr, was also allowed to seek medical treatment abroad even if he was also charged in court.

“For humanitarian reasons, the patient is entitled to the doctor of his or her own choice,” said Estrada, whose father, former President Joseph Estrada, was replaced by Arroyo after he was ousted from office in 2001.

Losing weight

Arroyo’s brother-in-law, Negros Occidental Representative Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo had revealed in a news report that his sister-in-law had lost much weight.

“If I were the husband, I would suggest that she go abroad. But she doesn’t want to because if she leaves again they’ll say she is trying to escape,” said Iggy in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday.

The former president, who is now the representative from the second district of Pampanga, has not been seen in public since her series of spine surgeries at St. Luke’s Medical Center in July and August.

The last report by her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, had her wearing a “halo vest” to keep her head and neck immobile while she recuperated at home.

Parañaque Representative Roilo Golez suggested that a government doctor visit Arroyo to assess her condition and determine whether she needs to seek medical treatment abroad.

“I don’t know the medical status of the former president but I would like to think that it would be inhuman for anyone to say that one is in the worst medical condition just to have a reason to be sent abroad,” Golez, a former Arroyo ally, said at the weekly “Ugnayan sa Batasan” forum Tuesday.

“If this can be medically ascertained and if that’s a medical reason, then I would not object to her getting the best treatment possible in the world,” he said.

Speaking from experience

Lawyer Raul Lambino, Arroyo’s spokesperson, refused to comment on Golez’s suggestion but said that Arroyo’s doctors would be coming out soon with a medical bulletin on her condition.

Lacson said that if Arroyo were to leave country only to evade prosecution, “I would not recommend it… it’s difficult. I experienced it and it’s really difficult. So it’s her call if she wants to go into hiding, but it would be difficult.”

Lacson left the country in January last year to avoid arrest in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. He returned in March this year after the warrant for his arrest was dropped by the Department of Justice. He has never revealed where he went into hiding or how he was able to avoid detection for over a year.

“It’s very hard to escape from the Philippines. I was the only one who could do it,” he told reporters in Filipino. With a report from Maila Ager, INQUIRER.net

Originally posted: 1:36 pm | Tuesday, October 11th, 2011