Jail looms for GMA

MANILA, Philippines (Nov. 26, 2011) – The prospect of GMA’s house arrest dimmed yesterday after one her doctors said in court that the former president is recuperating, may be treated as outpatient and is on the way to recovery in weeks.

Given this, a government prosecutor moved yesterday for the immediate transfer of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) to a local jail.

“I move for the immediate transfer of Congresswoman Arroyo to a jail facility at Southern Police District (SPD),” said lawyer Maria Juana Valesa, lead prosecutor of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the case, at the sala of Judge Jesus Mupas of Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 112 during the hearing on the electoral sabotage charges filed against Arroyo.

Earlier, defense lawyers asked that GMA be put under house arrest as they withdrew their motion seeking hospital arrest after a doctor testified that the accused is now fit to go home.

Lawyer Joel Pelicano, clerk of court of RTC Branch 112, told The STAR after the hearing that the court cannot immediately act on the motion to transfer Arroyo to a detention cell since the defense panel will be given time to comment on the motion.

He said all motions should be resolved before the judge issues a commitment order on where the former president should be detained.

“We may inspect the jail facility at the Southern Police District but we are not certain when,” he said.

Pelicano said that the hospital arrest order at the SLMC in Taguig City that was issued by Mupas stays until all motions are resolved.

He said both parties were given until Tuesday to submit their motions and comments.

During the hearing, Valesa proposed the transfer of Arroyo to a government hospital provided that her doctors, who were summoned and were present at the hearing, would testify regarding the actual health condition of their patient.

She suggested that Arroyo be confined at the Philippine Orthopedic Center or any government hospital at the discretion of the court.

However, defense lawyers withdrew the earlier motion for hospital arrest and instead filed a new motion requesting house arrest for Arroyo.

Flaminiano cited the case of former President Joseph Estrada who was granted hospital arrest by the Sandiganbayan.

Estrada was temporarily detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City pending the trial of the plunder charges filed against him.

To testify or not

Valesa said all three doctors of Arroyo should testify.

The defense lawyers argued that since they already withdrew their motion for hospital arrest the issue on the medical condition of Arroyo has become moot and academic and there is no need to hear Doctors Juliet Cervantes, Mario Ver, and Roberto Mirasol.

The defense panel, headed by Flaminiano and assisted by his son Jay, opposed the presentation of doctors that might violate the confidentiality of the medical records of Arroyo.

“Congresswoman Arroyo does not want her medical condition made public,” Flaminiano said.

Mupas, however, ruled that before the motions of both the prosecution and the defense are tackled, the actual medical condition of Arroyo must be established.

Despite the strong opposition of defense lawyers, Mupas ruled that one of the three doctors should testify on the condition of Arroyo.

The judge said the court would ask the questions, which will be limited only to the current condition and not on the details of the other ailment of the patient.

Dr. Ver, the orthopedic spine surgeon of Arroyo, testified that the congresswoman is now recovering and could be treated as an outpatient and her full recovery is expected after several weeks.

Valesa, however, insisted that doctors Cervantes and Mirasol should also testify but the defense panel opposed this, saying that the testimony of the two doctors might compromise the right of the patient from public disclosure of her other ailments.

“We are treading on dangerous grounds, this may violate confidentially of patient-doctor relationship,” Flaminiano said.

Mupas agreed with the defense and deferred the presentation of Cervantes and Mirasol, prompting the prosecutors to file an urgent motion for the immediate transfer of Arroyo to a detention cell at the SPD in Parañaque.

Valesa argued that since the defense lawyers have already withdrawn their motion for hospital arrest, and that one of the doctors had testified that Arroyo could already be treated as an outpatient, there is no more reason for the accused to stay in the hospital.

Defense lawyers asked the court to allow Arroyo to stay in the hospital pending deliberations of the motions set before the court.

Mupas gave both the prosecution and defense panels until Monday to submit their respective motions on the issue before a ruling could be rendered.

Flaminiano said that they are now leaving the fate of the former president to the discretion of the court.

“It’s up to court to decide, which facility to detain our client,” he said.

DOJ opposes house arrest

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima opposed the bid of Arroyo yesterday to be placed under house arrest.

De Lima urged Judge Mupas to be extra careful in granting Arroyo’s

request for house arrest that might be construed as special treatment.

“This administration really wants to avoid that perception - that it

is giving special treatment to her (Arroyo),” she stressed.

De Lima called on Mupas to carefully weigh both sides before deciding on the request, including the true medical condition of Arroyo.

The DOJ chief believes that the determination of the true health condition of Arroyo was crucial not only to the issue of her detention but also to the resolution of cases in the Supreme Court about the legality of her earlier order preventing the former president to seek medical treatment abroad.

De Lima likewise welcomed the admission of a doctor of Arroyo before the Pasay RTC that their patient was recovering already and

might be released from hospital.

“If doctors confirmed that her condition was not life-threatening, it will prove that (Arroyo’s) camp has been lying and that’s not contemplated in the rules. The act of lying then affects their reputation,” she said.

The Comelec filed electoral sabotage charges against Arroyo, former provincial elections supervisor Lintang Bedol, and former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. for allegedly rigging the senatorial elections in Maguindanao in 2007.

The filing of information was approved by Comelec commissioners in session last Nov. 18 upon recommendation of the joint DOJ-Comelec panel that conducted the preliminary investigation.

The charges against Arroyo were based on the testimony of former provincial administrator Norie Unas, who claimed that he had heard the former president instruct Ampatuan to ensure the 12-0 victory of the administration Team Unity in Maguindanao during an event at Malacañang days before the polls.

Arroyo failed to submit her answer during the two hearings conducted by the joint panel that did not grant her plea to have more time to file a counter-affidavit.

The joint panel chaired by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano likewise recommended the indictment of Arroyo, former Comelec chairman Benjamin

Abalos, his chief-of-staff Jaime Paz, and Intelligence Service of

the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) Captain Peter Reyes for a separate case of electoral sabotage in North and South Cotabato provinces also in 2007.

The Comelec, however, was still readying the information for the

second case.

Ready for occupancy

Meanwhile, SPD spokesman Chief Inspector Jenny Tecson said the detention cell of Arroyo is now ready for occupancy in case the Pasay RTC orders her transfer to police headquarters.

Tecson said an air-conditioned room at the SPD public information office was converted into what could be Arroyo’s detention cell and the police assured her of “utmost respect and dignity” befitting a former president.

The 4-meter by 10-meter room is located on the ground floor of the SPD main building.

The room, recently painted blue and white, is furnished with a wooden bed with foam, a desk, and a bamboo sala set. It is also located near a bathroom.

The SPD logistic division is also set to install a plywood division to separate her bed and the receiving area.

Arroyo could have a good view of the SPD grandstand surrounded by trees. She, however, might occasionally hear the sound of gunfire coming from a nearby firing range.

“We just prepared it but our actions will still be based on the orders coming from the court,” Tecson said.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo suggested that she be confined at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center (formerly V. Luna Medical Center) in Quezon City.

“If the court decides that she be in a government hospital then she will be in a government hospital, but if the court says in a regular detention facility then we will prepare a detention center for her,” Robredo said.

Robredo said Arroyo will be treated the same way the government handled the case of former president Estrada, who was arrested and detained for plunder charges after his ouster in 2001.

Estrada was initially detained at the Veterans Hospital before he was transferred to a military facility in Tanay, Rizal, and later to his rest house also in Rizal.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said Arroyo should now be transferred to a jail.

“A house arrest at this time is unjust and constitutes special treatment. What the court should do is transfer her from St. Luke’s Medical Center to a regular jail. From her cell, she can then argue her petition to be allowed to stay in her La Vista, Quezon City mansion,” he said.

He said the testimony of Arroyo’s doctor that she can now be discharged from hospital “means that she and her lawyers were deceiving the people, the Pasay City Regional Trial Court and the Supreme Court about her true state of health.”

“She’s healthy and should be put behind bars,” he added.

No knowledge

Resigned senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said he had no knowledge about the alleged electoral sabotage of the 2007 elections.

Zubiri, who was in Bacolod last Wednesday, said that as far as he is concerned, when Bedol and Ampatuan Sr. admitted that there was manipulation of election returns in Mindanao, he conceded to Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and stepped down as the 12th elected senator.

“I told Koko it’s your seat to take, not mine,” Zubiri said.

He said he has no idea and had no part in the poll fraud.

“If I had, then why would I resign? Guilty parties usually do not run away from their expensive operations,” Zubiri said.

Zubiri refused to comment on the alleged speed in the filing of the electoral sabotage charges and the issuance of the warrant of arrest against Arroyo, but he warned the DOJ to make sure it has an airtight case.

“In a heinous crime such as electoral sabotage, the judge has to be sure 100 percent that you are guilty beyond reasonable doubt, there must be indisputable evidence,” he said.  (From Philstar.com)