Arroyo couple to be arraigned Wednesday on graft charge

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, are ready to face the music but a coaccused in a graft complaint against them is not.

The Arroyos are set to be arraigned Wednesday on graft charges over the canceled $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal but former Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza has asked the Sandiganbayan to reset his arraignment because of a recent stroke.

The Arroyos don’t intend to seek a postponement, according to their lawyer Edna Batacan. A fourth coaccused, former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos, is also expected to appear before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division Wednesday to enter his plea on the graft charge.

Mendoza said he needed at least a month to recover from the stroke he suffered on March 18.

In a motion filed by his counsel before Holy Week, Mendoza said he was still weak and remained confined at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City.