EDITORIAL - No equal protection

It’s astonishing how public officials who claim to be too sick to stay in a regular jail regain their health overnight when they are allowed to post bail. Faced with the prospect of detention for plunder or other serious crimes, the first defense of accused VIPs in this country is to show up in public sitting in a wheelchair.

With several of the nation’s top officials allowed to be under “hospital arrest” while on trial for plunder, it’s not surprising that other VIP jailbirds will want the special privilege. Brothers Joel and Mario Reyes, former Palawan governor and Coron town mayor, respectively, will reportedly seek hospital detention while they face prosecution anew for the 2011 murder of environmentalist and broadcaster Gerry Ortega.

So far the Reyes brothers have not asked for wheelchairs, but they are expected to seek bail. The charges against them had been dismissed by government prosecutors – a finding that was upheld by the Court of Appeals. But the Department of Justice is taking a second look at the case and wants the brothers to face trial for the murder.

Once the brothers seek hospital detention, the courts should consider reversing precedents set in giving VIP treatment to certain detainees. Incarceration is sure to take its toll on a person’s health: the heart palpitates, blood pressure rises, migraines may develop, skin rashes may appear, and weight may fall from loss of appetite.

Curiously, the only inmates who manage to enjoy prolonged stays in private, air-conditioned hospital rooms are ranking government officials and the drug lords and other moneyed convicts at the National Penitentiary. It seems they are the only ones who can argue persuasively that they deserve VIP treatment for humanitarian considerations. This inevitably leads to suspicions that other considerations play a role in the approval of the VIP treatment.

All inmates surely want to get away from the dirty, vermin-infested, cramped detention cells that are typical in this country. That only a few VIPs get the privilege violates the equal protection clause in the Constitution. The courts should consider this if ever the Reyes brothers seek hospital detention. It should also be considered in other cases involving VIP jailbirds.