Palace ignores Joker’s call to remove Gloria from watch list

Malacañang on Saturday ignored a call from Sen. Joker Arroyo to remove former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from the immigration watch list. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Arroyo’s doctors at the St. Luke’s Medical Center had already said her condition is not serious and she need not seek treatment abroad. “I think it was pretty clear from the medical bulletin by Dr. [Juliet] Cervantes — [Arroyo’s doctor] — that there’s no need for the former President to seek medical treatment abroad," she said on government-run dzRB radio. Now that the doctor of Arroyo has spoken, the issue is settled and there is no need to take up the matter of removing Arroyo from the immigration watch list, according to the Malacañang executive. On Friday, the senator challenged the Aquino administration to lift the order that placed the former President in the Bureau of Immigration watch list. The move, according to the senator, would show sincerity that the Palace will not object to the former chief executive’s plan to seek medical treatment abroad. Valte also said the statement that Arroyo may need medical treatment abroad had come not from her doctors but from her legal spokesperson, defeated senatorial bet Raul Lambino. Arroyo, who is facing several plunder charges, had been confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Center for a condition in her spine. She is to undergo another surgery, the third since July 29. “At least we have statement from doctors [na] hindi siya naging critical. Ito ang situation niya ngayon — hindi kailangan ang treatment abroad. So I think that settles the issue," Valte said. — JE, GMA News