GMA lawyers file petition for bail anew

MANILA, Philippines - Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s lawyers filed another petition for bail before the Sandiganbayan yesterday, saying her continued hospital detention is endangering her life.

In an 11-page motion, lawyer Modesto Ticman Jr. said clinical psychologist Arnulfo Lopez, who conducted tests on Arroyo, found that restricted mobility has worsened her condition.

He said Arroyo’s continued confinement at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) “has not contributed to the improvement of her medical condition but has in fact exacerbated the same.”

He added that the VMMC medical team headed by Martha Nucum also noted that despite three spine surgeries in 2011 and continuous physical therapy, Arroyo “has not been cured of her illness and she continues to feel the ill-effects of her previous surgeries.”

“Until now, she continues to complain of moderate to severe pain in the lumbosacral area, calf area and nuchal area which is relieved temporarily by NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs),” Arroyo’s recent medical bulletin stated.

Citing the medical report released by Lopez, Ticman said medical treatment alone could not effectively treat Arroyo.

“They recommend holistic approach, family support, emotional stability, and spiritual upliftment which she cannot attain while being confined in a hospital,” he said.

“It is very evident that her present confinement, being a prisoner in a hospital with very limited access to a lot of social, occupational and personal activities, is giving her tremendous distress as shown in her mental status examination,” he added.

He said Arroyo suffers from difficulty sleeping, loneliness, dysphoric mood, poor appetite and weight loss.

“What could be more stressful than a former president who used to be healthy performing her everyday tasks suddenly put to an almost solitary confinement as a prisoner with an existing spine disease,” Ticman said.

Lopez said psychological factors, such as stressful experiences or certain personality characteristics, “directly cause changes in the physiology of the body that in turn cause or exacerbate disease.”

Ticman said Supreme Court rulings that allowed bail to respondents because of life and health-threatening circumstances should apply to Arroyo’s case.

He also noted that no less than two justices of the Sandiganbayan found that no evidence was presented to prove she amassed PCSO funds.