Malacanang awaits court ruling on GMA’s proposed Christmas vacation with her family

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (Wikipeida photo)

MANILA — The Palace is hands-off to the proposal to allow detained former President and current Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arrroyo to go home to her family for 12 days during the Christmas season.

In a briefing Thursday, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said it is better to wait for the anti-graft court’s decision on this.

“Ayon sa ating pagkabatid ay nagbigay na ng abiso ang hukuman sa prosekusyon at sa defense na maghain ng kanilang mga posisyon at pagpapasyahan ito,” he said.

“Antabayanan na lang po natin kung ano ang magiging pagpapasya ng hukuman,” he said.

Arroyo, along with her husband, Mike, and two others are facing plunder charges for their part in the USD 329-million deal with China’s ZTE Corp. for the national broadband network (NBN) program.

The program targets to link government offices all over the country through a telecommunications network.

Arroyo signed the deal with ZTE Corp. on April 21, 2007.

However, businessman Jose de Venecia III claimed that his company was bypassed during the bidding after the president’s husband intervened in the process.