DOJ chief opposes house arrest for Estradas

There must be equal application of the law.

Justice Secretary-on leave Hernando Perez said yesterday he was opposed to the idea of allowing jailed former President Joseph Estrada to spend the holiday season at home.

"We have objected to putting him under house arrest. That was our position and we said that there is only one law for the rich and the poor," Perez told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

Government prosecutors have also resisted the proposal to put Estrada under house arrest "in the spirit of Christmas."

The deposed president and his son, former San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, are currently detained without bail at the government-owned Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City while undergoing trial on charges of corruption including the capital offense of plunder before a special division of the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.

Estrada was unseated by a popular revolt in January last year following a failed impeachment trial triggered by charges of widespread corruption, illegally amassing over P4 billion and taking bribes from clandestine gambling operators.

Perez admitted, however, that it is the Sandiganbayan that will ultimately make the decision on the house arrest issue.

Calls have mounted to let Estrada spend Christmas at home in posh Greenhills subdivision in San Juan as a prelude to house arrest.

Housing Secretary Michael Defensor said he has visited Estrada at the VMMC to enable the former president to air his appeal.

Certain politicians and members of Church-based organizations have voiced support for the proposal.

Citing humanitarian reasons, Estrada’s lawyers filed a petition before the Sandiganbayan asking for house arrest for their client.

Asked whether Defensor’s move could be interpreted as a signal to the court to go easy on Estrada, Perez said he did not know if there was such a move.

"But I still believe in the independence of the judiciary," he stressed.

Meanwhile, Assistant Ombudsman Dennis Villa-Ignacio said President Arroyo, former President Corazon Aquino and other sectors were supporters of the proposal were ill-advised on the issue.

Villa-Ignacio said the independence of the Sandiganbayan special division chaired by Acting Presiding Justice Minita Chico-Nazario should be respected.

He expressed confidence that the anti-graft court could not be swayed by proponents of the proposal.

"The prosecution (in the trial of Estrada) is not happy with this development. They should know the Constitution particularly the separation of powers and functions of the different agencies of the government such as the executive, legislative and the judiciary," Villa-Ignacio stressed.

He added that the separation of powers clause in the Constitution states that the different departments of the government cannot interfere in the functions of the other departments. "Whoever is orchestrating this move should respect the Constitution. It is unfortunate that even the President is ill-advised on this matter."

Estrada’s court-appointed lawyer Noel Malaya argued that the snowballing calls to place his client under house arrest is not intervention in the independence of the judiciary but mere expression of opinion. – AFP, Jose Rodel Clapano, Mayen Jaymalin, Romel Bagares