MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who tried to leave the country on
medical grounds while the government scrambled to file charges against her, is
well enough to leave the hospital where she was arrested last week, she and her
doctors agree.
Arroyo lawyer Jose Flaminiano told a court
Friday he was withdrawing his motion for a hospital arrest in favor of house
arrest. Earlier, he had resisted efforts to have doctors testify about Arroyo's
condition.
Arroyo is "fit to be released as
outpatient," her physician Dr. Mario Ver testified Friday.
Arroyo has had three surgeries on her cervical
spine, and she argued before her arrest that she needed to travel abroad for an
urgent bone treatment that she claimed was unavailable in the Philippines.
The government refused to let her go this
month, even after the Supreme Court ruled in her favor. She wore a head and
neck brace as she was turned away from the Manila airport.
Arroyo successor President Benigno Aquino III
has said the government wouldn't object to house arrest and wants the former
leader treated with respect.
Arroyo, who left office last year, is charged
with ordering the rigging of 2007 congressional polls, which she denies. If
convicted, she faces life imprisonment.
Aquino promised to uproot corruption in the
Philippines and says he wants to start with Arroyo, accusing her of
proliferating a culture of graft and eroding public trust in government.
In a police medical report leaked to Friday's
Philippine Daily Inquirer, medical section head of the Philippine National
Police National Capital Region Hermenegilda Salangad was quoted as saying that
Arroyo's medical status "has significantly improved except for the
complaints of pain in low back, left knee, weakness of both feet and weak
neck."
Judge Jesus Mupas of the Pasay Regional Trial
Court earlier ordered Arroyo's doctors at Manila's St. Luke's Medical Center to
testify about her condition. Flaminiano objected, citing doctor-patient
confidentiality and the fact she was no longer seeking a hospital stay, which
the court had previously approved on humanitarian grounds and because of
Arroyo's stature.
The Commission on Elections, an independent
body that filed the charges against Arroyo, asked to be given three days before
responding to Arroyo's motion for house arrest.
In the meantime, commission lawyer Juana
Valesa wants Arroyo to be transferred to a government hospital. Flaminiano
objected, saying she should stay in remain in the private hospital where she
has been treated until the court decides whether to allow house arrest.
TERESA CEROJANO | AP
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