MANILA, Philippines - The Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) is expected to issue an order within two weeks to transfer former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) in Taguig City to a still unspecified government facility, a court official disclosed yesterday.
“The transfer of the former president to a government facility is already definite after the motions of both the defense and prosecution panel are resolved maybe in two weeks’ time,” lawyer Joel Pelicano, clerk of court of RTC Branch 112, told The STAR.
He said the transfer of Arroyo, who is facing an electoral sabotage case, was supposed to be carried out yesterday after court officials inspected possible detention cells at several government hospitals and the Southern Police District (SPD), but defense lawyers led by Jose Flaminiano filed an urgent motion seeking a court hearing on an extension of Arroyo’s stay at SLMC for five days.
“That’s why we conducted the inspection because the stay of the former president at the SLMC is only temporary,” he said.
Pelicano said the court would ask the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to comment on the pending motion at the Pasay RTC to allow the house arrest of the former president at her residence at La Vista subdivision in Quezon City.
Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes has already expressed opposition to house arrest for Arroyo.
The Comelec earlier filed a motion for the immediate transfer of Arroyo from her suite at the SLMC where she is being treated for a rare bone disorder, to a detention cell at the SPD.
Pasay Judge Jesus Mupas had issued last Nov. 18 a warrant of arrest for Arroyo after the Comelec filed electoral sabotage charges against her, former Maguindanao provincial elections supervisor Lintang Bedol, and former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. for allegedly rigging results in senatorial elections in Maguindanao in the 2007 polls.
The filing of the information was approved by Comelec commissioners in session last Nov. 18 upon recommendation of the joint Department of Justice (DOJ)-Comelec panel that conducted the preliminary investigation.
Pelicano said the court is expected to resolve the motion for hospital detention within two weeks and it’s likely that Arroyo would be spending Christmas inside a new detention facility.
Mupas and Pelicano visited last Monday the Armed Forces of the Philippine Medical Center (AFPMC) along V. Luna St. and the Philippine Orthopedic Hospital (POH), both in Quezon City, the detention cell at the SPD in Taguig City, and the presidential suite at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) that was used as the detention cell of former President Joseph Estrada when he was on trial for plunder.
Court officials are reportedly considering the transfer of Arroyo to the VMMC or POH that had passed the standards set by court.
Pelicano said among these standards are safety and security, proximity to a hospital and the medical condition of the detainee.
He said since Arroyo is still a detainee and not a convicted criminal, she is entitled to the same privileges accorded to Estrada who was detained at the VMMC pending his trial for plunder after he was ousted from power in 2001.
Pelicano said the timetable set by the court may be altered if the Supreme Court issues a ruling on the issue of the legality of the DOJ-Comelec joint panel, which investigated the case.
If the SC does not issue any ruling the legal process will proceed and the arraignment of Arroyo is expected next January.
“After the arraignment the accused may waive her right not to appear in the hearings,” Pelicano said.
Palace won’t block hospital arrest
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Malacañang is amenable to temporary hospital arrest for Arroyo, but not for the entire duration of the trial.
“She is sick. They might say that we are heartless. It is not about being affected by the criticisms, it is about recognizing that (she is sick),” Lacierda said.
“She is currently still suffering from a medical condition, anorexia nervosa or diarrhea, and we recognize that the best place for her to recuperate would be in a hospital and our preference is that she be placed in a government hospital,” he said.
However, this would all fall under the discretion of the Pasay RTC.
Lacierda commended the doctors of Arroyo who have declared in open court that she is fit to leave hospital, which is an implied admission that her medical condition is not life threatening.
“We’re glad first and foremost that they have withdrawn, the Arroyo camp has stopped lying to the public that she is facing a life-threatening illness. That much has been debunked in court by their doctors themselves,” he said.
This developed as Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos hopes the Pasay court would immediately resolve the pending motion for house arrest of Arroyo.
Arroyo’s lawyers earlier asked that the former president be subjected to house arrest instead of being brought for detention at the SPD or a government hospital.
Marcos said that whatever would be the outcome of the case, both sides should be given due respect.
Meanwhile, provincemates of Arroyo issued a manifesto last Monday to support the proposal to place the former president under house arrest in her hometown in Lubao, Pampanga.
The manifesto was signed by officials of the Pampanga Mayors’ League, the Federation of ABC Presidents, the Federation of Senior Citizens Association of the Philippines, Inc., the Pampanga Agricultural and Fishery Council, the Kalipunan ng Malayang Magbubukid ng Gitnang Luson, barangay chairmen from the towns of Sasmuan, Guagua, Floridablanca, Porac, Lubao and Sta. Rita, and a local parish priest.
They said their proposal would contribute to her recovery from
her debilitating disease that would provide her the strength to face all the accusations leveled against her and at the same time allow her to serve her constituents in Pampanga’s second district. With Delon Porcalla, Teddy Molina, Ding Cervantes