Arroyo couple to leave Philippines within 24 hours: Flight plan undisclosed

Shortly after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against a Department of Justice watch list order against them, the Arroyos, led by the former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo announced that they will get the first available flight outside the country.

The former First couple did not specify where, but people are surmising that the couple will first go to Hongkong to meet their portfolio manager before going to a European country.

So, the initial buzz is indeed, on the mark: the Supreme Court Chief Justice cutting his trip abroad just to give his political benefactors their "liberty".

Why the rush to leave, when Gloria, according to doctors and even to her close friends, is getting better by the day?

Wagging tongues give some malicious explanations, including that of securing the couple's investments abroad and of securing the couple from possible arrest and spending jail time come December.

Many sectors within Malacanang are determined to put the former leader behind bars for more than nine years of intolerable rule. Two years past, and no criminal indictment. And now this.

Will Gloria do a Thaksin? Let's see within a few days or weeks what will happen.

Arroyo cabal could get US$ 1 billion worth from RP budget

A source, who is a global financial and investment consultant, confirmed earlier reports that the Arroyo cabal lost about US$ 320-500 million worth of investments due to the sudden collapse of Lehman brothers and other global investment firms. The source, who is now hiding due to fears of possible reprisals and legal suits, wanted to give me a list of those involved in this Arroyo cabal. Reportedly, the money placed in these different global investment firms came from huge commissions and kickbacks from high government officials. The investment firm that reportedly got at least 76% of all these monies is based in Hongkong.

Now, there is a plan to salvage the loss by simply getting more from government projects. A malicious minded friend retorted that this explains why 18 billion pesos were infused to the DPWH budget and that 86 billion pesos are now being planned to be infused in low cost housing. Another one, there is a 2 billion peso allocation for fertilizers and farm inplements for the Department of Agriculture. This is about a 100 billion, from DPWH and DA alone.

If reports are true that the Arroyo cabal gets fifty percent commission, then this is roughly about 50 billion pesos or about a billion dollars worth of commissions. This amount would definitely cover the huge US$500 million they lost last year and more.

Question---why the desire to get more money this year? Speculations are rife that the Arroyos are preparing for their legal fight post-2010 and even securing their retirement years in Portugal. They even prepped their business already, with deals secured in Colombia and Hongkong.