Court allows Arroyo to attend brother-in-law's funeral mass

MANILA (Updated 10:40 a.m.) -- A Pasay City court allowed Monday detained former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to attend the funeral mass of her brother-in-law, Negros Occidental Representative Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, on Friday.

Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch 112 Presiding Judge Jesus Mupas approved the Pampanga lawmaker's petition to attend Iggy's funeral mass at 10 a.m. in La Vista, Quezon City.

MANILA. Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo attends the funeral service for his brother, the late Negros Occidental Representative Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, at the House of Representatives in Quezon City. (Kathrina Alvarez)

Arroyo will leave the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), where she is detained, at 7:30 a.m.

After the mass, she will be back at the VMMC and will no longer go with the convoy heading for the North Cemetery in Manila, where Iggy will be buried.

The Negros Occidental lawmaker died on January 26 after suffering a heart attack in London, where he had sought treatment for cirrhosis of the liver.

Arroyo visited her brother-in-law's wake last Thursday at the family residence in La Vista.

Arroyo, who has been detained at the VMMC, has been facing a non-bailable case of electoral sabotage in relation to the 2007 senatorial elections. (Sunnex)