Philstar.com reports that former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, the eldest brother of the late Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, appealed to Iggy's legal wife Alicia "Aleli" Arroyo and his live-in partner Grace Ibuna to end their bickering. Mike made the appeal on Monday, February 6, as he "expressed alarm over the delays in the repatriation of the remains of Iggy."

Iggy died at a London hospital last January 26, but his remains are not yet in the Philippines. The report noted: "Aleli went to London last week with her lawyer, Atty. Lorna Kapunan, to retrieve her husband’s remains but they came home empty-handed as the funeral parlor that has custody of his remains said the client they recognized was Ibuna." Ibuna had allegedly tapped the services of a London-based solicitor to allow her custody of the remains. In any case, as the report pointed out, Kapunan is "confident that the funeral parlor, Kenyon Funeral Directors, will abide by the decision of the Philippine embassy in London to give Aleli custody of Iggy’s remains."

In the face of the two women's power struggle, Mike said: "Those women should make peace first so Iggy can rest in peace. For the sake of Iggy, they should not fight now."


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