GMA trial reset after lawyer faints twice

MANILA, Philippines - The trial of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for electoral sabotage was reset after a defense lawyer fainted twice during yesterday’s hearing.

Lawyer Reynaldo Princesa, who represents former Maguindanao election officer Lintang Bedol, was supposed to cross-examine prosecution witness Susan Cabanan, a former election officer of SK Pendatun town in Maguindanao.

Arroyo, Bedol and former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. are accused of electoral sabotage for allegedly cheating in the 2007 midterm polls.

Pasay Regional Trial Court Branch 112 Judge Jesus Mupas had just banged the gavel to start the hearing when Princesa slumped on the table. The lawyer had been undergoing dialysis and has had three heart bypass surgeries.

Rescue workers rushed to the courtroom and checked Princesa’s blood pressure as his wife gave him medicine. The lawyer fainted again when he tried to stand up, and rescue workers brought him out of the courtroom.

Mupas, following a motion to cancel the proceedings by Arroyo lawyer Benjamin Santos, reset the trial to Nov. 10.