The body of Rep. Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo (Neg. Occ., 5th District) is expected to  finally arrive  at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport  in Manila  at 10 p.m. tomorrow, and will be flown to Negros Occidental March 6 where it will stay until March 8, Jacklyn Guzman, lawyer of his daughter Bernardina Arroyo-Tantoco, told the media in Manila yesterday.

Arroyo died after a long battle with cirrhosis of the liver in London on January 26 with his partner Grace Ibuna by his side.

The return of his body to the Philippines had been delayed by a  battle between his second wife Alicia “Aleli” Arroyo and Ibuna on who should have custody of the body. A London court last week granted joint custody of the body to Ibuna and Tantoco, but Aleli’ has insisted that its ruling does not hold under Philippine laws.

Based on a compromise agreement reached between the two women’s camps,  the body of Arroyo  will be  brought directly  to the Arlington Funeral Homes in Quezon City for preparation on its arrival in the Philippines.

 From there the body  will be brought to his ancestral home at  La Vista, Quezon City, where it will stay until  Friday.

 On Friday, after a 10 a.m. mass, the remains will be brought to his estranged wife’s nearby house where it will stay until Monday, March 5.

 His body  will  then be brought to  the House of Representatives at about  8 p.m. on Monday where a necrological service will be held, after which the body will  be flown to Negros Occidental where it will stay until  March 8.

 In the morning of March 8, the body will then brought back to the Arroyo  ancestral home at La Vista and he will be buried in the North Cemetery in Manila on Friday morning.

President  Gloria Arroyo, who has been detained at the Veterans Memorial Hospital, has been granted permission to go to the wake of the congressman on Thursday.*CPG

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