Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would seek a third term as Pampanga representative in the 2016 elections, an official of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) said.
In a press conference on Oct 8, 2015, Atty. Raul Lambino, Lakas-CMD senior deputy secretary general, said he would be the one to file Arroyo’s certificate of candidacy while the former president is under hospital detention for plunder.
“Ang pagkakaalam ko po magfafile siya para sa kinatawan ng ikalawang distrito ng Pampanga under Lakas CMD. Pineprepare ko ang kaniyang certificate of nomination and acceptance as official candidate of Lakas,” Lambino said, adding that he would file the candidacy for Arroyo.
Arroyo ran and won the Pampanga district seat after her term as president in 2010 in a supposed bid to be immune from suits amid allegations of massive corruption during her term.
But this supposed immunity backfired. Arroyo served her first term present in the plenary until she was ordered detained for plunder in 2012 over an alleged charity funds mess. Even while under detention, she won her reelection bid in 2013.
Arroyo is placed under detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center as she faces plunder before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly using P366 million in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) from 2008 to 2010 for personal gain. She is in the hospital as she claimed to be suffering from a degenerative bone disease.
