Gloria Arroyo excused from Sandiganbayan hearings

MANILA, Philippines- The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division has excused former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from attending the pretrial conference of the graft case against her owing to her illness.

A television report said Justice Gregory Ong told Mrs. Arroyo in court that she need not attend the pretrial conference "in that condition."

Wearing a red suit and skirt, the now Pampanga representative was brought to the court in a wheelchair and with an intravenous line attached to her arm.

After Ong's statement, Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo immediately left the court. Mr. and Mrs. Arroyo are both accused in the graft case stemming from the alleged overpriced national broadband network deal with Chinese firm ZTE Corp. The deal was shelved.

The court scheduled the case's trial proper on October 1.

Jose Flaminiano, a lawyer for the Arroyos, said the former President was told to have a total bed rest after complaining of back ache last week.

He said Mrs. Arroyo came from the Veterans' Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) before attending the court proceedings and will also return to the hospital after leaving Sandiganbayan.

Mrs. Arroyo was rushed back to the VMMC days after she was released on bail by the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 112 in connection with her electoral sabotage case. She is reportedly suffering from acute cervical and lumbar pain.