Binay to ease Arroyo’s hospital detention, ally says

Former Candaba mayor Jerry Pelayo on Monday says Vice President Jejomar Binay will ease the hospital detention of former president now Pampanga representative Gloria Arroyo. MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB

ANGELES CITY, Pampanga – If elected President, Vice President Jejomar Binay would allow detained Pampanga Rep. and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to leave hospital detention to have medical treatment for her illness, an ally said Monday.

During Binay’s visit at the Angeles city hall on Monday, former Candaba mayor Jerry Pelayo said Binay would not yet allow Arroyo to be released pending her plunder case at the Sandiganbayan.

But Binay would allow Arroyo to get better treatment outside the Veterans Memorial and Medical Center (VMMC), where she is detained for plunder, Pelayo said.

“Hindi niya palalayain si GMA dahil may kaso. Pero papayagan niyang magpagamot. Baka mamatay sa Veterans Hospital. Papayagan niyang pagamot sapagkat siya ay senior citizen, isang babae,” Pelayo said, rousing cheers from the city hall employees.

Binay was accompanied at the city hall by Angeles Mayor Eduardo Pamintuan and the Vice President’s wife Dr. Elenita Binay.

A staunch ally of Arroyo, Pelayo said the former president’s illness only worsened while under hospital detention at the VMMC.

“Masyado na siyang payat. Bakit hindi pa pabayaan? Kaya dapat iboto natin si Jojo Binay para matulungan ang mga Kapampangan,” Pelayo said.

Binay, however, did not mention Arroyo’s condition in his speech.

He vowed to create another community in Pampanga and improve the Clark International Airport.

Binay is a staunch critic of Arroyo when the latter was president. In what was seen as a politically motivated move, Binay was ordered suspended by Arroyo in 2006 for alleged ghost employees on the Makati City payroll.
In August 2015, Binay crossed paths with Arroyo when he attended the wake of the former president’s brother, Arturo Macapagal, who died of prostate cancer. The meeting was described as reconciliatory.

Arroyo ran and won as Pampanga representative in 2010 after her term as president for nine years. Her congressional run was believed to be a strategy to get immunity from suit amid several corruption allegations during her term.

Under the Aquino administration, Arroyo was ordered arrested in October 2012 on charges of plunder for allegedly stealing from state lottery funds. Arroyo had proceeded to the hospital before the warrant against her was served.

Claiming to be suffering from a degenerative bone disease, Arroyo was ordered placed under hospital detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center. Arroyo won her reelection bid in 2013 even while under detention. She is seeking a third term in 2016.

Arroyo is accused of using P366 million in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) for personal gain from 2008 to 2010.
Her petition for bail has constantly been denied.