Arroyo returns to La Vista, visits Iggy's wake

MANILA, Philippines - Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo went out of detention and returned to La Vista Subdivision in Quezon City, this morning to visit the wake of her late brother-in-law former Negros Occidental representative Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo.

Though not in handcuffs, Mrs. Arroyo arrived at the residence of the late legislator this morning under heavy guard.

"She arrived a little past 8 this morning," lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, one of the counsels of the former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, said.

Topacio said there are at least 40 uniformed policemen around the perimeter of the Arroyo residence in La Vista, with members of the media only allowed at the gate of the posh subdivision.

Mrs. Arroyo was escorted by several heavily armed policemen from her detention facility at the Veteran's Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City to La Vista to attend the wake.

Topacio said Mrs. Arroyo will be transported back to VMCC detention facility around 4 p.m.

Pasay City Regional Trial Court branch 112 Judge Jesus Mupas earlier granted Mrs. Arroyo's request to attend the wake but limited it to just 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mrs. Arroyo's lawyers requested the court to extend the visit to the wake from Mar 1 to 3, but the Commission on Elections legal team opposed it, saying it would already be a furlough.

The Comelec has filed electoral sabotage case against Mrs. Arroyo and former members of the poll body for the alleged massive vote manipulation results during the 2007 national elections.

The body of the late congressmen will remain at the Arroyo ancestral house until March 3. From there, the body will be brought to the conjugal house of the congressman and his estranged wife, Aleli, still inside the La Vista Subdivision.

The congressman's body will also be brought to the House of Representatives building and then flown to Bacolod City for a three-day wake. It will be flown back to the La Vista ancestral home for the interment on March 9.

The body will be buried at the Manila North Cemetery.