Gloria Arroyo may be banned from leaving country

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima may soon order the Bureau of Immigration to place her erstwhile boss, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, on its watch list to keep the current Pampanga legislator in the country as she faces the charges filed against her. Speaking to reporters, De Lima said that as head of the Department of Justice, she has the prerogative to issue watch list orders against subjects of government inquiries. "She (Arroyo) is now a subject of several investigations not just in the DOJ, but also the allegations that have cropped up now in connection with the PCSO. Her name is always being mentioned so I am in fact seriously considering that," said De Lima, who headed the Commission on Human Rights during the Arroyo administration. Arroyo is facing at least three plunder complaints before the DOJ — one involving the alleged anomalous P73 million sale of the old Iloilo airport in 2007, the other the supposed misuse of P550 million in migrant workers' welfare funds, and about P1.6 billion in Agriculture funds allegedly diverted to her campaign kitty in 2004. Arroyo's name has likewise been repeatedly dragged into the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) fund mess, which is currently being looked into by the Senate blue ribbon committee. Militant party-list group Bayan Muna has already filed plunder charges against Arroyo before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with how the PCSO allegedly became a cash cow of the Arroyo administration and its allies. De Lima said once Arroyo is placed on the Immigration watch list, the former president "has to move formally to have [the watch list order] lifted." Arroyo arrived from Europe last Saturday but maintained her silence on the allegations lodged against her. Her legal spokesperson, Raul Lambino, only said that the administration of President Benigno Aquino III is on a “massive, well-funded campaign" against Arroyo. — Sophia Dedace/KBK, GMA News