FREEDOM has brought radiance to former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
She appeared to be “blooming” in a crimson suit with a golden “G” brooch, coiffed hair and polished nails when she appeared at her first media briefing in the House of Representatives.
This was a far cry from her pathetic image during her four-and-a-half years in hospital detention when she had no makeup, wore drab hospital wear and had a neck brace as her main accessory.
It was only two months ago that the 69-year-old Pampanga representative walked out of her suite at Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City and returned to her family mansion at La Vista, also in the city.
Arroyo was clearly elated when a reporter asked about her health, specifically on how she has been able to look so blooming and far from her “haggard look” when she was in detention.
“Freedom is always very healthy,” Arroyo said, alluding to the Supreme Court decision of July 21, which junked the plunder case filed against her during the Aquino administration.
She and officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) were accused of diverting P366 million in PCSO funds intended for charity for her personal use.
Arroyo teased back at reporters at the briefing by asking them if they were looking for beauty tips from her.
But she said she still was unsure of her health, specifically her neck and spine problems that were the main reasons why the court allowed her to stay in hospital detention during the trial of the plunder case.
“But I don’t know how exactly I am yet until I have my checkup. I’m leaving two weeks from now for Germany,” said Arroyo, who still has a standing hold-departure order against her from the graft charges involving the scuttled NBN-ZTE deal pending in the Sandiganbayan.
Arroyo has been allowed by the antigraft body to leave the country from Sept. 20 to Oct. 2 to visit doctors in Germany for a medical checkup and for a vacation in France.
“I sent them all my medical records (last week) and there were additional tests that they asked me to have done and I sent all to them. Then they will send me their diagnosis and prescription. I have not received them,” she said.
She is also set to attend a family reunion in Hong Kong from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4.
MEDIA APPEARANCE A “blooming” Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appears to journalists with Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro at the House of Representatives in Quezon City. Freedom is always very healthy, the former President said. RICHARD A. REYES
Arroyo, who limited her interaction with the media during her time in Malacañang, appeared to be enjoying her first briefing as she laughed with the reporters and eagerly answered questions about a host of issues.
On the impending House probe of her former tormentor, then Justice Secretary and now Sen. Leila de Lima, Arroyo said she would not be vindictive.
“I’m very confident that due process is going to be pursued, unlike in the time when I was being persecuted,” said the former President.
It was De Lima who issued a Department of Justice circular that barred Arroyo and her husband from flying out of the country in November 2011 in connection with the alleged rigging of the 2007 midterm elections in Mindanao.
Arroyo said she was supportive of President Duterte’s decision to have the remains of the late President Ferdinand Marcos buried at Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City.
She also revealed that during the National Security Council meeting, which she attended along with other former Presidents, notably Benigno Aquino III, she only made one advice to Mr. Duterte on the territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea.
“As a strategic direction, the Philippines should pursue a healthy, long-term relationship with China based mainly on economic exchange, trade and investment and to the most practicable extent possible, transcend the specific matters at issue between us,” she said.