MANILA, Philippines - Lawyers of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday asked the Sandiganbayan to allow her to go on a nine-day furlough to visit the wake and burial of her grandson.
In an ex-parte motion submitted before the Sandiganbayan First Division, the ex-Chief Executive's lawyers appealed to the justices to allow her to be placed under house arrest from November 3 to November 12 at her residence at No. 14 Badjao Street, La Vista Subdivision, Quezon City.
They also requested that the tribunal to allow her Arroyo to attend the daily wake of her grandson, Alonzo "Jugo" Arroyo-Bernas, at No. 62 Cambridge Circle, North Forbes Park in Makati City and his burial.
"She would like to be with and pray with her family for the soul of her grandson for the next nine days, as is the religious custom, at her home at No. 14 Badjao Street, La Vista Subdivision, Quezon City, where the healing process for her and her family can begin," her lawyers said.
"President Arroyo would like to believe that there is room enough in our justice system to accommodate the request of a grandmother to be allowed to properly grieve the loss of a grandson's life," they said, adding she is not a flight-risk.
Arroyo is now under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City for graft charges.