GMA not asking for furlough

MANILA, Philippines - Despite support from a number of her colleagues in the House of Representatives, former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has not asked the Sandiganbayan for a Christmas furlough.

As of yesterday, no motion asking the anti-graft court’s First Division to allow her to temporarily leave the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) so she can be with her family during the holidays has been filed.

Lawyer Anacleto Diaz, Arroyo’s lawyer in the plunder case involving alleged misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office funds, said “no” when The STAR asked if his client will ask the Sandiganbayan for a Christmas break from hospital detention. He did not elaborate.

The former president is still moving for the grant of her petition for bail, which was denied last month by a special division of five magistrates with a vote of three to two. Arroyo has appealed the ruling.