Palace: Arroyo camp refuses to divulge ‘Oplan Little Girl’ source

President Benigno Aquino III would have taken seriously the purported slay plot on Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had her camp’s allegation contained more substance, his deputy spokesperson said Friday.

At a briefing in Malacañang, Abigail Valte dismissed the remark of Ferdinand Topacio, a lawyer of the former President, that the administration was remiss in its duty to protect its citizens when it ignored the alleged plot, “Oplan Put the Little Girl to Sleep.”

Valte said the administration had not abandoned its obligation to protect a citizen in this case.

“We have not lessened the security of the former President. At the [Veterans’ Memorial Medical Center], you will see that the director general of the PNP himself went there to make sure that security is intact,” she said.

Hospital visits

Asked why there was no investigation of the alleged plot, Valte said: “While we have the task of investigating things, the report [should have had] some substance instead of just sources that [the Arroyo camp] refused to divulge.”

Supporters continued to visit Arroyo in her suite at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City as authorities prepared to move her to the state hospital.

Abelardo Lucero, a 74-year-old retiree, said he was allowed to see Arroyo for around two minutes on Friday.

“She is able to smile. It’s the same smile as before, but you could see that she was not feeling well,” said Lucero, a member of Masa Bansa, an urban poor group that has long been supporting Arroyo.

Lucero said he seized the brief visit to share with Arroyo stories of when she was a little girl, before her father, Diosdado Macapagal, became president. He said Arroyo nodded as he aired his recollections.

“Then I said goodbye and I told her that sooner or later, she will be back,” he said.

Well-wishers also continued to send cards and notes to Arroyo at the hospital, according to a member of her staff who briefly spoke with reporters but did not give her name.

At press time, St. Luke’s had yet to issue an update on Arroyo’s medical condition.