GMA to sign pre-trial order on poll sabotage raps today

MANILA, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will receive today the pre-trial order on the electoral sabotage charges she is facing before the Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 112.

Arroyo will sign the documents at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City where she is detained.

Her co-accused former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and Lintang Bedol will be given their pre-trial orders at the Metro Manila Detention Center in Bicutan, Taguig.

Felda Domingo, court spokesperson, said the pre-trial order is vital to determine whether the accused wants the trial to proceed.

“If the accused will not sign the order, the trial will be suspended,” she said.

Prosecutors of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and counsels of the accused will be present when court officials present the documents to them.

The signing of the pre-trial order was originally set on Dec. 31 last year with the accused personally appearing in court.