Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is facing an electoral sabotage case, should be detained in a government facility and not in a private hospital or her residence, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes said Monday.
“Ang preference namin is Southern Police District kasi within the jurisdiction of the [Pasay Regional Trial Court]," said Brillantes.
“Hindi kami papayag na private hospital, hindi kami papayag residence."
Still, the Comelec chief said will have a final say on where the Arroyo should be detained. She is accused of allegedly ordering authorities to cheat results of the 2007 midterm elections. Mrs. Arroyo's camp filed two motions asking the Pasay City Regional Trial Court to place her under hospital and house arrest.
Brillantes said they will block any move to have Mrs. Arroyo placed under house arrest if ever she is discharged from St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City where she is being treated for her bone mineral disorder and hypoparathyroidism.
“We will oppose it as soon as we receive the copy of the motion," Brillantes said, although he admitted that they have yet to see the petition filed by the Arroyo camp.
“Kaya nga hindi pa kami nagko-comment kasi hindi pa namin alam kung ano yung laman ng kanyang [petition]. Hindi ko alam ‘yung ibig sabihin ng house arrest. House arrest ba dun sa bahay nya?" the Comelec chief said.
Brillantes said they would only agree to a house arrest provided it will be under “government house arrest."
“Kung sabihin niya na government house arrest baka sakali pwede pa, which means it’s a government house where she will be detained," he said. “Ang government house sa interpretation namin would be detention facility of government."
According to one of Mrs. Arroyo's counsels, Laurence Arroyo, they are asking for respect for the former President.
“We are not asking that she be given preferential treatment but just to give her the respect due her because of the office that she held," he said in an interview at the Comelec head office in Manila after furnishing the poll body a copy of the petitions.
Brillantes said the commission will block any move to have Mrs. Arroyo placed under house or hospital arrest if ever she is discharged from St. Luke’s where she is being treated for bone mineral disorder and hypoparathyroidism.
“We will oppose it as soon as we receive the copy of the motion," Brillantes said.
A reasonable request
The request for house arrest is a reasonable one, according to the motion
“President Arroyo is no ordinary citizen. The Lady of Justice may be blind in weighing the evidence but she cannot close her eyes to the fact the person before her is no ordinary person… Thus, while her term has ended, her stature as a former president has not diminished and her long public service cannot be disregarded," part of the petition read.
The lawyer said they asked the court to allow Mrs. Arroyo to stay at her residence in La Vista, Quezon City.
Earlier Monday, Judge Jesus Mupas of the Pasay Regional Trial Court, inspected Mrs. Arroyo’s detention cell at the SPD headquarters — an airconditioned lounge converted into a makeshift detention area for the former President who is now a legislator representing Pampanga’s Second District.
A team from the Pasay City RTC also inspected three government hospitals in Metro Manila where Mrs. Arroyo is likely to be transferred.
‘Accepted detention measure’
Meanwhile, one of Mrs. Arroyo’s allies at the House of Representatives, House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, said that house arrest is an “accepted" measure to secure the safety of an accused and prevent his or her escape.
“House and hospital arrests are accepted detention measures in lieu of prison confinement, particularly during the pre-trial and pre-conviction phases of criminal prosecution," he said in a statement.
He cited foreign leaders and personalities, such as Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, Chile’s Augusto Pinochet and even Galileo Galilei, who were once placed under house arrest.
Lagman said Mrs. Arroyo should be placed under house arrest since the constitutionality of the Department of Justice-Comelec panel, whose findings were used as basis for the electoral sabotage case, is still being questioned before the Supreme Court. — KBK/VS
