Ani slams holiday leave for Estradas

House arrest in disguise.

Ombudsman Aniano Desierto reiterated yesterday that the holiday leave requested by deposed President Joseph Estrada and his son Jinggoy is just another form of house arrest which had already been denied by the anti-graft court.

"That’s tantamount to house arrest. It has no legal basis. There’s no provision on house arrest under the Plunder Law (RA 7080). We will definitely oppose that," Desierto said.

As this developed, the Supreme Court declared Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Anacleto Badoy "on leave" until it resolves questions on his neutrality and conduct.

Badoy, who is trying Estrada for plunder, will be on leave "until further notice."

The Estradas requested through their lawyer that they be granted a leave from hospital detention this Christmas and New Year.

His deputy agreed. "We already have a plethora of the same moves. They had motions to go home, be under hospital arrest and all that. This is one of the strange moves of the accused," Overall Deputy Ombudsman Margarito Gervacio Jr. said.

He pointed out that for them to allow the Estradas to spend the holidays with their families at home will definitely have a domino effect on other inmates spending time in jail while waiting for their cases to be decided by the courts.

"To do otherwise would pave the way for a compartmentalized justice and it’s going to trivialize the strictness of the provisions of the Plunder Law. Of course, our position is to oppose this. We are vehemently opposing this," Gervacio said.

The fact that the Estradas were not granted bail only shows that the evidence against them is strong. "This is a non-bailable offense. They can only be released if the evidence of guilt against them is not strong. That’s the only ground," he clarified.

Father and son are now detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City. They asked the third division of the Sandiganbayan headed by Justice Anacleto Badoy Jr. to allow them to be home from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2 next year.

The motion was filed by defense lawyer Rene Saguisag last Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day. – With Marichu Villanueva