House grants GMA travel authority for six weeks

MANILA, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wanted to stay abroad for an indefinite period.

A source in the House of Representatives who is familiar with her travel request told The STAR yesterday that she had asked for an “open-ended” travel authority.

However, the office of the House secretary-general, through officer-in-charge and deputy secretary- general Artemio Adasa Jr., granted her authority to travel for six weeks, from Oct. 22 to Dec. 5.

“Apparently, she had other things in mind aside from consulting with foreign doctors on her ailment,” the source said.

There were speculations that despite her local doctors’ finding that she was improving significantly, the former president and her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, had decided to go abroad to take a respite from the legal troubles hounding them.

Just the other day, a joint Department of Justice (DOJ)-Commission on Elections panel subpoenaed Mrs. Arroyo and her husband to respond to charges of committing electoral offenses in the 2007 elections.

Based on the travel authority signed by Adasa, Rep. Arroyo is authorized to go to Spain, Italy, Germany, Singapore, and the United States.

Besides her husband, she is bringing along her military aide and her nurse.

Last month, she was given a one-month travel authority, which has expired.

After her last checkup, her doctors at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig announced that she was making “significant improvement,” though they said she needed to consult with doctors abroad on how to effectively treat her ailment.

Her husband had previously traveled to Germany to look for a doctor specializing in stem cell treatment.

Mrs. Arroyo is still awaiting the go-signal of the DOJ for her to travel abroad. She is on the DOJ travel watchlist.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the DOJ is asking certain documents from Mrs. Arroyo before she could be allowed to leave so the administration would not be accused of giving her special treatment.

Mr. Arroyo, for his part, lashed out at Malacañang and the DOJ for misleading the public in justifying efforts to delay granting his wife permission to seek medical treatment abroad.

“Who are they kidding? No one is fantasizing a special treatment for the Arroyos by this administration,” Mr. Arroyo said in a text message.

“The public knows that the (Arroyo) family received the worst treatment imaginable ever since they (Aquino administration) took over,” he said.

Mr. Arroyo earlier slammed De Lima for giving his wife a hard time securing an Allow Departure Order by asking for all sorts of documents that are not required in the DOJ’s administrative rules, including the schedule of all her appointments with medical specialists abroad, appointment letters, and a detailed listing of the kind of treatments she would be having.

He said the House has already granted his wife permission to seek treatment abroad for her medical condition known as “hypoparathyroidism,” which is preventing the full healing of her brittle neck bones following three critical surgeries since July.

The Pampanga lawmaker was previously granted permission by the House to leave last Sept. 18 but she was not able to leave, as her condition was still fragile.

However, Mrs. Arroyo could not leave without an Allow Departure Order from De Lima.

Arroyo’s camp said De Lima seemed to be withholding the Allow Departure Order until after the subpoena for her to appear before a preliminary investigation on alleged electoral sabotage in 2007 was served on Tuesday to make it appear that the former president was trying to avoid prosecution.

Mrs. Arroyo’s spokesperson Ma. Elena Bautista-Horn said doctors from SLMC where she underwent the operations declared that the former president was fit to travel.

“We have doctors’ clearance to travel,” Bautista-Horn said in a text message. She, however, said Arroyo’s trip will “depend on the DOJ permission.”

Among the cures being sought by the former leader is stem cell treatment, according to Mr. Arroyo.

He maintained that he and his wife have no intention to evade the charges filed against them.    – With Paolo Romero