GMA to participate in House sessions soon

MANILA, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may soon participate in legislative sessions at the House of Representatives now that she is out on bail, her spokesperson said.

Ma. Elena Bautista-Horn told reporters over the weekend that despite her debilitating illness and pending criminal cases, Arroyo is eager to work at the House and intends to seek reelection next year “to make up for lost time.”

House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II earlier said the 65-year- old Arroyo remains a member of the chamber unless she is convicted with finality by the courts on the various charges filed against her.

“She (Arroyo) said that it is her sworn duty as an elected lawmaker to make up for her absence while in detention,” Bautista-Horn said.

When Arroyo was released from detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), she wanted to proceed to the House but was prevailed upon by family members, she added.

A day after she was freed on a P1-million bail Wednesday by the Pasay Regional Trial Court where she was charged with electoral sabotage, Arroyo proceeded to an alternative healing center in Tagaytay but spent only a day there before going to her congressional district in Pampanga.

“She really insisted on returning to see her constituents and she asked her children to allow her to go because this was her life and she would not get well if she was away,” Bautista-Horn said.

She said Arroyo is ignoring the criticisms and political attacks coming her way and focuses on her work as legislator.

Bautista-Horn however could not say how soon Arroyo can participate in legislative sessions, especially now that the chamber is set to deliberate on the proposed P2-trillion national budget for 2013.

Bautista-Horn said Arroyo has always been active in participating in budget deliberations in the past.

Arroyo is scheduled to return to the VMMC for her physical therapy four times a week.

Arroyo is also facing plunder charges before the Sandiganbayan in connection to the alleged misuse of funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Local officials in Pampanga, on the other hand, expressed support for Arroyo in her seeking a second term.

Pampanga Mayors League (PML) secretary-general and Floridablanca Mayor Eduardo Guerrero said Arroyo’s constituents are “clamoring for her continued service as representative of the second district comprising the towns of Floridablanca, Porac, Lubao, Sta. Rita, Guagua and Sasmuan.”

“It is the people who want her to run for a second term so that she could continue her family’s legacy of public service. We hope that she will overcome this trial in terms of her health. We are behind her and pray for her,” Guerrero said. – With Alexis Romero, Ding Cervantes