GMA lawyer: Palace execs feigning sanity

MANILA, Philippines - Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s camp shot back at Malacañang yesterday, saying Palace officials accusing the former president of feigning illness are the ones pretending they are sane.

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio assailed Malacañang officials on their criticism of Arroyo.

“She’s not feigning illness, it’s the people in Malacañang who are feigning sanity,” he told The STAR in reaction to Malacañang’s earlier statements alleging that Arroyo is faking her sickness.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda was quoted as saying that there are people who “suddenly (become) sick when they are about to be arrested, and it’s been happening every so often and this has to stop.”

“She was evidently well enough to attend the hearing but she remains in a precarious medical condition as attested by the fact that her doctors from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) were here and ready to testify that she cannot be removed from the hospital; they are assisting her in the court appearance,” he stressed.

Arroyo, wearing a pink dress with a pink shawl, attended yesterday’s arraignment at the Sandiganbayan in connection with the alleged misuse of P365.9-million worth of funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

She, however, refused to enter a plea, prompting the anti-graft court to enter a not guilty plea on her behalf.

Former Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando, who is known to be a fan of the color pink, had been saying that pink means being in the pink of health.

“She’s just showing that she’s pretty in pink,” Topacio said.

“She’s the former president and she’s also a lady and she deserves to present herself in a dignified manner before media and the public,” Topacio said.

The Sandiganbayan had earlier granted Arroyo’s request for hospital arrest when VMMC doctors certified that she needs continued medical care after undergoing three surgeries and being diagnosed recently with a possible heart problem.

The anti-graft court had earlier moved to Nov. 22 the arraignment of Arroyo’s co-accused, former PCSO board member Manuel Morato, who underwent heart surgery at St. Luke’s Medical Center last week.

Meanwhile, the mood was somber at the presidential suite of the VMMC in Quezon City when Arroyo returned after her arraignment, a source said.

The source said Arroyo’s children Luli and Mikey accompanied the former president to the government hospital.

“She was back at the hospital’s presidential suite shortly after the arraignment,” the source said.

Arroyo, under hospital arrest at the VMMC, appeared at the Sandiganbayan for her arraignment on plunder charges.

Police imposed tight security and guarded her convoy from the hospital to the Sandiganbayan. – Michael Punongbayan, Reinir Padua