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Former President of Philippines Charged with Election Fraud

By Heather Lee
November 18, 2011 - 2:36 pm
Officials arrested former President Gloria Arroyo in a Manila hospital

Former Philippines president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was arrested Friday in her private room at St. Luke's Medical Center where she has taken medical care for high-blood pressure. 

The Philippines Commissions on elections issued the arrest warrant on charges of electoral fraud and Arroyo cannot leave the country, Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marques said to Bloomberg.

According to the New York Times, the government stopped her from leaving the country Tuesday when she was trying to take an airplane at Manila's Niinoy Aquino International Airport. Since she failed to leave the country, she has been staying in the hospital. Although the Supreme Court upheld her right to travel on Friday, a lower court issued an arrest warrant and imposed restriction on her leaving. 

photo by michael lorenzo

According to CNN, Arroyo was sitting in wheelchair wearing a head and neck brace while she was transported to the departure gate. She was boarding the flight to seek further medical treatment abroad for her bone disease diagnosed earlier this year, following three unsuccessful spinal operations in the Philippines. 

When the government stopped her from leaving the Philippines for medical treatment for her bone disease, she denied any wrongdoing and accused the government of political persecution. The government had filed fabricated charges with "indecent haste," her lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said in the New York Times report.

Arroyo is the second ex-Philippine president to face trial after Joseph Estrada was sentenced to life imprisonment on corruption charges.

According to the Bloomberg, charges against Arroyo will be filed this month. She embezzled more than a billion pesos ($23 million) from a government contact during the 2007 election.

CNN reports that while the Arroyo couple would be treated with dignity, the government would be firm in ourdecision not to allow them to leave the country." Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, is also accused of corruption, said presidential spokesman Edwin Laciera.

Photo by michael lorenzo.

 


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