Why not a congressional move for a speedy trial?

ESCAPE VS SPEEDY TRIAL: As they have decided to meddle in the judiciary anyway, instead of passing a resolution setting the stage for the escape of former President Erap Estrada, our honorable senators and congressmen should pass a strongly worded resolution asking the Sandiganbayan to speed up his trial for plunder and other charges.

In exposing their lingering sympathy for a former benefactor, our senators and congressmen must have been emboldened by their shared belief that he is innocent of the charges.

To gain justice for him, they should move heaven and earth – even breach the doctrine of separation of powers – to give him a speedy trial on his way to acquittal and a post-trial knee surgery anywhere in the world.

The accused is guaranteed his right to a speedy trial. The idea is that in a fair hearing, the faster the trial the faster the accused will gain justice and acquittal.

But why are our senators and congressmen conniving instead with Erap’s million-dollar lawyers to delay, or even abort, the trial by opening the coop and giving Erap a chance to flee?

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FIRST ATTEMPT FAILED: Our honorable lawmakers cite humanitarian reasons in their resolution. Isn’t it more humane to speed up the trial, acquit the accused without further delay, and thereby give him all the time to seek medical treatment anywhere?

The same humanitarian reasons were trotted out when he was earlier complaining of dimming eyesight. Erap pleaded with the court to allow him to go abroad for cataract treatment, saying at one point that he would go blind if he were not allowed to go.

The Sandiganbayan replied with a firm No. Erap went to a local clinic as an outpatient. He spent a few minutes for the laser procedure, rested a little longer, then was driven back to his detention suite at the Veterans hospital. The same routine was repeated days later for the other eye. Both treatments were successful.

We are being regaled all over again to the same zarzuela of a patient pleading, this time, for his aching knees. And we have for supporting cast the honorable senators and congressmen pressuring the court in unseemly manner to let Erap go.

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KNEECAP SURGERY IS ROUTINE: The Sandiganbayan and the rest of the public must be told the plain truth that the knee surgery that Erap seeks can be done right here, in one of several hospitals within three miles of where the patient is.

Erap’s case is one of severe osteoarthritis of both knees. The definitive treatment for that is a knee replacement.

We have excellent ortho surgeons in this country – some of them at the St. Luke’s Medical Center and the Philippine Orthopedic Hospital – who can easily do the job.

Our ortho surgeons do this type of procedure on a regular basis and have a good batting average regarding postoperative clinical outcome. It has become routine to some of them.

The bone doctors we have consulted say that this surgery, though major, is not considered exceptional and can be done within two hours per knee. In a few weeks of post-operative care, Erap could be back to his carousing at his Veterans presidential quarters.

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ENDLESS TREATMENT LOOMS: If Erap were allowed to fly to the US, ostensibly for medical treatment, what would prevent his buying one medical certificate after another to keep himself endlessly seeking medical attention in the modern hospitals of America?

Even while here, we have seen how he has exhausted just the legal profession to throw one obstacle after another to prevent his being tried. What more when the medical profession is brought into the slow-motion court drama?

In the US, every little complaint is subjected to endless medical tests that invariably bring out all sorts of pains and discomfort that, upon request of a patient, will have to be rechecked and treated and so forth and so on.

The parade of so-called medical attention and treatment will never end. Send Erap to the States and, considering his creative lawyers and the billions they have squirreled away, we will never see the conclusion of his Sandigan trial.

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NOT PLAYING ALONG: Senate President Franklin Drilon has explained his "strong reservations" over the resolution to allow Erap to go to the US for treatment. He said the Sandiganbayan should decide Erap’s petition on its own merits without any interference from any branch of government.

He said the resolution puts undue pressure on the Sandiganbayan and exposes the Senate to a possible charge of contempt of court. It also violates the principle of separation of powers and sets a bad precedent.

He added: "If the court approves the petition of Mr. Estrada, it would be accused of succumbing to outside pressure. If the court disapproves the petition, it puts the Senate in an embarrassing light."

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