Arroyo pleads not guilty to corruption charges

Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband pleaded not guilty today to corruption charges related to an overpriced deal with a Chinese telecommunications company in a second criminal case against her. Arroyo was arrested last year on a separate charge of electoral fraud and has been since indicted in connection with a $US330 million ($322.88 million) government contract with Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp. A congressional probe found the 2007 contract overpriced and ridden with problems, including allegations that Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, accepted bribes to push through the contract with his wife's approval. Under public pressure, Arroyo cancelled the deal the same year. She left office in 2010 and faced a wide-ranging prosecution as part of a promise by her popular successor, President Benigno Aquino III, to uproot corruption. Arroyo and her husband entered their pleas at a special anti-graft court called Sandiganbayan. Arroyo was escorted by heavily armed police from a government-run hospital, where she has been detained on the fraud charge - from which she cannot be bailed out - while undergoing treatment for a spinal ailment. Mike Arroyo last month posted bail at the anti-graft court to avoid detention. Arroyo's lawyer, Laurence Arroyo, said his client was also diagnosed with shingles and went to the court against her doctor's advice. "She wanted to face squarely already the charges against her and get the trial going," he said. A former elections chief, Benjamin Abalos, also pleaded not guilty today.