GMA to bid final goodbye to Iggy

MANILA, Philippines – Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be able to say a final farewell to her brother-in-law.

Pasay Regional Trial Court Judge Jesus Mupas allowed the detained Pampanga representative to attend the funeral mass of Negros Occidental Rep. Iggy Arroyo.

Arroyo was granted permission to attend the mass on Friday, March 9, at the La Vista subdivision in Quezon City at 7:30 am.

She was not allowed, however, to attend the burial on the same day at the Arroyo family mausoleum in the North Cemetery in Manila.

After the mass, Rep. Gloria Arroyo will immediately be brought back to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, where she has been detained since December 2011 on charges of electoral sabotage.

Mupas allowed the former president to visit her brother-in-law’s wake last Thursday, March 1, from 8 am to 4pm at the Arroyos’ ancestral home in La Vista.

On Monday, March 5, the House of Representatives led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. honored the late Arroyo through a mass and necrological services in Batasan.

Arroyo died of a heart attack on January 26 in London. The 60-year-old congressman had been battling liver cancer. After about a month, his remains arrived in the Philippines on February 29.

A dispute between his legal wife, Alicia “Aleli” Arroyo and common-law wife Grace Ibuna delayed the repatriation of his remains.

Arroyo came to the rescue of his brother, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo in several controversies including the so-called Jose Pidal scandal.

Pre-trial starts March 26

The president-turned-lawmaker pleaded not guilty to electoral sabotage on February 23. 

In a phone interview, court stenographer Linda Friginal told Rappler that Mrs Arroyo’s pre-trial will start on March 26. 

The court earlier announced that the actual trial will start on April 19. – Rappler.com