GMA allowed to visit terminally ill brother

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has granted former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s request that she be allowed to visit her terminally ill older brother at the hospital today.

Magistrates of the anti-graft court’s First Division led by Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz gave Arroyo a five-hour furlough from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. to visit  Arturo Macapagal at the Makati Medical Center (MMC).

Macapagal, 72, has stage four prostate cancer.

Arroyo, currently under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center because of a plunder case involving the alleged misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office funds, filed her furlough plea last Friday.

“Mr. Macapagal may not live long. His cancer has spread to his brains, bones and lungs. While the family continues to pray for a miracle, the doctors are of the opinion that his condition may further decline in the coming days,” the motion read.

He has been confined at the hospital’s intensive care unit since July 2.

The Sandiganbayan imposed the usual conditions in granting the former president’s motion, including shouldering all the expenses to be incurred by the Philippine National Police and the anti-graft court’s sheriffs.

Arroyo was also reminded against granting media interviews and was instructed to abide by the five-hour window. – With Rhodina Villanueva