Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has be charged with electoral fraud. Arroyo was arrested while in the hospital for what is being described as a ‘bone ailment’. Police came in and placed the woman under arrest, finger printing her while she laid in her hospital bed. She was also wearing a hospital gown and wearing a neck brace her picture was taken while a technician held her name plate. In an unusual move family, relatives, friends, as well as her lawyers and doctors, were allowed to observe the arrest. This information was made public by Police Senior Superintendent Joel Coronel.

Arroyo was on a 16-th floor hospital suite late Friday when she was arrested. She has been there since November 18th being treated for high-blood pressure and other illnesses. The Pasay court agreed on Monday to allow Arroyo to stay in hospital while under arrest. However her husband has demanded that she be allowed to leave the country to obtain medical service. However the court has ordered that she not be allowed to leave saying she’ll be trying to evade justice. It’s very likely that she would, since her and her husband own many properties overseas in the United States.

Previously the 64-year-old president attempted to leave the country but was stopped on Tuesday. She is the second ex-Philippine president to face trial.

According to the China Post:

“A police medical officer who examined her said Arroyo appeared to have lost weight, was slightly dehydrated and had an elevated blood pressure of 140/100. Her doctor, Juliet Cervantes, said she has lost her appetite and was being hydrated with IV fluid.”

This arrest comes from an investigation into her conduct during her reign as president. The newly election Benigno Aquino won the office last year by riding into office on an anti-corruption ticket. The Arroyo regime was plagued by corruption, so much that the general public was well aware of it. She faces charges that she pocketed more than a billion pesos ($23 million) from a government contract in 2007 and that she and her husband rigged elections the same year. She was accused of having direct knowledge of massive cheating in an autonomous Muslim region in the southern Philippines, the country’s poorest and notoriously corrupt region.

Jose Miguel is being investigated by an anti-graft body for the alleged irregular sale of helicopters. Arroyo’s eldest son, Juan Miguel, and his wife face tax evasion cases. If convicted Arroyo could face 40 years in prison.

Unfortunately none of the human rights abuses committed by her regime are being investigated.