Supreme Court grants Arroyo 3-day birthday furlough

THE SUPREME Court on Tuesday granted former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo a three-day furlough from detention when she celebrates her birthday next month, allowing her to stay at her residence and spend time with her family.

Arroyo, who has been under hospital arrest while on trial for her alleged involvement in the P366-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office fund anomaly, will celebrate her 69th birthday on April 5.

“The court granted the petitioner’s request for a birthday furlough but only for three days, to be spent exclusively at her residence,” court spokesperson Theodore Te told a press briefing.

Arroyo had originally requested a five-day furlough.

The high court said Arroyo’s homestay will begin at 8 a.m. on April 4, the eve of her birthday, at which time she could be brought to her residence at the upscale La Vista Village in Quezon City.

Her furlough ends at 5 p.m. of April 6, and she should then be brought back to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center where she has long been held while on trial.

Last week, the high court extended by another two months its suspension of the Sandiganbayan’s proceedings on her plunder case, extending its status quo ante order that had lapsed on Feb. 19.

It was the second extension the high court granted on the case. Its original order in October last year put the trial on hold for a month, while an order in November extended the suspension by another three months.

The high court had ordered the suspension of the antigraft court’s proceedings while deliberating on Arroyo’s petition to reverse the Sandiganbayan’s decision denying her bail while on trial.

Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, has another petition pending before the high court seeking to reverse the Sandiganbayan’s resolutions denying her demurrer to evidence, a pleading that sought to dismiss the plunder charges against her on account of insufficient evidence.