All parties must appear at next hearing
Judge says case is really about inheritance?
Ignacio Arroyo's body will remain in Britain for at least a further ten days, a High Court judge ordered Friday.
Mr Justice Peter Smith, sitting in the Chancery Division, ordered that Grace Ibuna must provide concrete evidence that she has the authority to handle "Iggy" Arroyo's body. ?She must have authenticated by the executrix in the Philippines paperwork proving she can move the body Judge Smith told Ibuna's counsel, barrister Philippa Daniels. Ibuna did not appear today at the injunction hearing which effectively ?became a continuation of the ex-parte hearing last week.
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Press waiting outside the Rolls Building where today's hearing took place?
The original hearing had been taken out by "Iggy's" partner against the funeral parlor, west London undertakers JH Kenyon, who have now become embroiled in a tug-of-war between Ibuna and second wife "Aleli" Arroyo over who takes the body.
At todays hearing, "Aleli" who is known as "Defendant 2" in the action, also did not appear. However, Judge Smith ordered that anyone with an interest in the case who provides evidence must appear at the next hearing, which he scheduled for 10.30am Monday 20th February. It was going to be Friday 17th but the judge was alerted by his clerk there was a conflict in hearings, so both Philippa Daniels and barrister Tristan Jones for Kenyon's agreed to the deferred Monday date after a short adjournment.?
Tug-Of-War In London Court Over Iggy's Body?
The main reason the judge ordered the delay was that the documentation Grace Ibuna relied on was a will drawn up by "Iggy" Arroyo which was signed under Californian law. He was also unhappy about documents provided by Ibuna's lawyer which were served on Kenyon's legal team only at 7am this morning.?
He also stated that at this stage it appears Ibuna has no rights in the matter.?
The judge ordered that Ibuna's legal team supply by 10am Monday 13th February (London time) a validated special power of attorney to the court. Philippa Daniels attempted to contest this early deadline, mentioning the 8 hour time difference between Manila and London, but the judge held firm stating that the legal teams will just have to work through the weekend.
He also ordered all legal teams supply any new evidence by 4pm Wednesday 15th February latest, and that skeleton arguments must be in court by 2pm 16th February.
The judge also wanted Ibuna's team to provide an expert in Philippine law, especially in relation to the fact that the will was drawn up in the US, so bringing three jurisdictions into the equation. He agreed that this could be done by video link.
When asked by Daniels if the judge could order the Philippine Consul in London to comply with any of the judges wishes, the judge pointed out that it would be impossible for him to order the Consul to do anything because of diplomatic immunity if they so wished to ignore him.
The judge also stated that this case wasn't about the body, but was really about inheritance.?
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The paper shown above, a declaration from the Quezon RTC that Aleli & Iggy were still married, was not presented at today's hearing?
One of the interesting things to come out of today's hearing refutes reports from "Aleli" Arroyo's lawyer, Lorna Kapunan, that Ibunan wanted "Iggy's" body cremated. Philippa Daniels told the court that her client wanted the body returned to the Philippines to be buried next to the mother of Iggy Arroyo, which appear to be his ("Iggy's") wishes, whereas others wanted the body taken to Negros for eventual burial.
Tristan Jones for JH Kenyon only had one major factor brought up which was the possibility of the body decomposing. The judge asked if the body could be deep frozen to stop this happening.?
The judge told JH Kenyon's lawyer that they did not need attend if they wished as they were innocents in this matter, and that the main thing was that Kenyon's should be entitled to have their costs paid for.?
JH Kenyon's lawyers, DLA Piper UK LLP, issued a statement after the hearing:?
"Grace Ibuna has secured an extension to the temporary injunction obtained from the High Court in London on 3 February.
The injunction now requires our client not to do anything with the late Congressman's remains before Monday 20 February when there will be a further hearing.
The court has recognised that our client is an innocent party caught in the middle of this unfortunate dispute, although our client continues to do what it can to help find a resolution to the situation."
Grace Ibuna's camp refused to speak over the matter, with her lawyer Philippa Daniels even refusing to give her name saying she was forbidden from answering any questions at all.?
There was nobody from "Aleli" Arroyo's camp to speak to, although Balita Pinoy is still awaiting a response to two requests to her lawyer, Lorna Kapunan, for an interview and comments.
There was an added bit of drama to the proceedings when the venue and hearing judge were changed at the last minute.
The hearing had been set for Court 10 in front of Mrs Justice Proudman. However, this court for some reason had a multitude of cases (about 20) set before her. When she entered just after 10.30 Friday morning, she immediately proceeded to tell off the assembled legal teams for not supplying evidence and skeleton arguments on time, basically stating that neither her court nor the clerks could process or digest arguments delivered late prior to hearings, which would on looking at the number of listings never be completed that day.
To the layman she certainly had a point, as by the start of the hearing time it was literally standing room only with possibly 60 or 70 people in the court, most of whom seemed to be lawyers. One company had 10 hearings alone listed which would have taken 5 hours to complete at the most conservative estimate.
Justice Proudman then started asking which teams were assembled, and the Iguna v Arroyo case was then transferred to Court 4 in front of Mr Justice Peter Smith, who had heard the original ex-parte injunction. It was a relief to move as Judge Smith only appeared to have 2 listings in front of him so proceedings were finished by lunchtime.?
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Posted at: 07:32 
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