GMA’s plea for birthday furlough junked

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has denied Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s request for a three-day birthday furlough despite testimony from doctors at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) that a break from hospital confinement will be good for her health.

Sources said the First Division issued the decision late yesterday afternoon, one day after pulmonologist Martha Nocum took the witness stand and told the anti-graft court that allowing the former president to go to Lubao, Pampanga to celebrate her 67th birthday with family, friends, and constituents would help her heal better.

As of press time, Arroyo’s lawyer Modesto Ticman Jr. said he has yet to receive an official copy of the latest Sandiganbayan ruling.   

Asked if a motion for reconsideration would be filed, he told The STAR that it would depend “on the tenor” of the decision.

Arroyo, who will celebrate her birthday on April 5, asked the Sandiganbayan to allow her to go to Lubao, Pampanga from April 4 to 6.

She said she will shoulder all expenses for the trip, which her doctors also allowed despite her deteriorating health condition.

Arroyo, who is on hospital arrest at the VMMC, said she wants to spend time with her family, friends, and constituents on her natal day.

Her lawyers said Arroyo’s request “is in full accord with her constitutionally guaranteed right to be presumed innocent.”