The Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) hearing the electoral sabotage case against former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has allowed her continued hospital arrest until it is determined whether she is fit to go to jail.
With no objection from prosecution lawyers of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Judge Jesus Mupas of Pasay City RTC Branch 112 on Monday permitted Arroyo to remain confined at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City.
“The court has agreed to a temporary hospital arrest due to her health condition and for humanitarian reasons,” the clerk of court, Jose Pelicano, told reporters after the court postponed to Friday a hearing on the motions filed by Arroyo’s lawyers.
An official of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), who does not agree that Arroyo’s medical condition needs treatment abroad, advised that she be detained in the hospital rather than a jail cell.
“The hospital is the appropriate place for a sick person, whether an ordinary or [prominent] citizen,” Leo Olarte, a PMA governor and orthopedic surgeon, said on the sidelines of the Kapihan sa Diamond Hotel media forum.
“Great news, kaso bitin. hospital arrest.. What's next? House arrest?”
“bakit kya pagmayaman house arrest ka o kya nmn hospital arrest samantalang pag mahirap ka dun ka sa bartolina... himas rehas k.... grabe iba tlga satin hehehehe.... only in the philippines.. original=)”
“Bakit kaya ang mga politician pag nasasakot sa kaso nang corruption ay nagkakasakit at gustong mag pagamot sa ibang bansa.
can any body explain the phenomenon? lol.”
can any body explain the phenomenon? lol.”
“tamah! sana mga kulungan dito tulad sa US.. para wala lusot mga mayayaman at makapangyarihan..”
“ang magnanakaw na mahirap on the spot kalaboso k pag mayaman hindi agad pwede kasi my sakit kuno=)”
Through Sickness and In Health
“She has an intestinal infection that can lead to dehydration. Her fluids and electrolytes need to be examined and balanced, and that would need special hospital equipment and a laboratory that won’t be present in a detention cell. She also has anorexia nervosa and that would need a special food supplement”- according to a doctor
An official of the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) does not see any problem with Arroyo's continued stay in the hospital, or even house arrest in the future.
CBCP–Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care Executive Secretary Rodolfo Diamante said they won't object to such an idea, especially given the current medical condition of Arroyo.
Juliet Gopez-Cervantez, Arroyo's main attending physician, has advised the lawmaker to remain at the hospital due to her current health condition.
She said Arroyo has yet to fully recover from the series of neck and spine surgeries she underwent in the past months and would have to stay at the hospital for few more days or a week.
"I think it should be looked into not because she is a very important person but I think health wise. That should be the number one consideration," the prelate said of Arroyo.
Diamante stressed, however, that the "special treatment" should not be limited to Arroyo, who is also a member of the House of Representatives, as it should also be accorded to other inmates that are in similar medical situations.
Activists, however, do not believe that Arroyo’s place is in a hospital. They staged a lightning rally at Pasay City Hall to press for the transfer of Arroyo to a detention facility.
Some 15 members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and the League of Filipino Students carried placards calling for Arroyo’s imprisonment and treatment as “an ordinary prisoner.”
They decried the alleged “special treatment” being given to the former President in the form of hospital arrest.
At St. Luke’s Medical Center, lawyer Raul Lambino told reporters that Arroyo appeared to be suffering from depression.
Although he maintained he wasn’t sure if doctors had diagnosed Arroyo as suffering from clinical depression, Lambino said it was evident that the situation she was in was taking a toll on her health.
“When I saw her this morning, she said she had not eaten her breakfast. She did not have any appetite,” the lawyer said. “She feels weak, maybe because of the lack of nutrients in her body which was probably due to her lack of appetite.”
Arroyo remains hooked to an intravenous drip, he said.
Lambino said Judge Mupas’ order for Arroyo to remain in the hospital could be revoked once it was determined after a hearing that she was medically fit to go to jail.
“Any order like that is interlocutory, meaning it’s not final and would depend on the exigency of the time,”
Senator Jinggoy Estrada insisted that Arroyo should not be detained at an expensive hospital like the St. Luke's Medical Center and should be transferred to a government hospital like what the Arroyo administration did to his father, former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada.
The elder Estrada was confined at the Veteran's Memorial Hospital in Quezon City while undergoing trial for a plunder case. He was then transferred to the Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa Laguna, which is a training camp of the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police.
“Hanggang 2016 na yan dyan si GMA sa St.Luke's, sasabihin nila hindi na gagaling sakit nya, Para iwas kulong. hahaha
Kung natuloy ang paglabas nila ng bansa, ganun din dahilan nila, maraming medical diagnosis at medication na aabutin ng ilang taon para lang di makabalik sa Pinas. Buti at napigilan ng DOJ and Pasay RTC!!!!”
Kung natuloy ang paglabas nila ng bansa, ganun din dahilan nila, maraming medical diagnosis at medication na aabutin ng ilang taon para lang di makabalik sa Pinas. Buti at napigilan ng DOJ and Pasay RTC!!!!”
“naisip ko lang si erap nagpakulong noon, meron din naman siyang medical condition.”
“well lets see, pagalingan ngayun ng mga abogado ito, pagalingan yung mga abogado sa paghahanap ng technicality.”
“Sa military hospital or Gov't hospital sya dapat naka hospital arrest, mga institusyon na hindi nya pinag tuunan ng pansin noong sya ang pangulo.
Let her taste the bitterness of her neglect.”
Let her taste the bitterness of her neglect.”
“payag nman ang karamihan ng pinoy sa hospital arrest ni cgma, gusto lng nla eh MENTAL HOSPITAL arrest”
“Bro ok na dun sya naka Hospital arrest ...kung aabutin sya ng 10 yrs dun sa st Lukes edi ubos ang pera nya ...^^”
“Boo! special treatment! dapat dun sya sa mga ka Kosa nya... ( Kahit di pa convicted )”
Jinggoy said Arroyo should also be detained at the Fort Sto. Domingo when she regains her strength.
Umalma si Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada sa pagsasailalim sa hospital arrest kay dating Pangulo at Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sa mala-hotel na St. Luke’s Medical Center sa Taguig City.
Ayon kay Estrada, kung binasbasan man ng Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) at ng Malacañang ang hospital arrest kay Gng. Arroyo ay hindi dapat ito sa St. Luke’s i-admit kundi sa alinmang government hospital tulad ng Veteran’s Memorial Medical Center sa Quezon City na pinagkulungan sa kanyang ama na isa ring dating pangulo.
“Bakit sa St. Luke’s eh ang daming government hospital tulad ng Veteran’s?” tanong ng senador.
Giit pa ng batang Estrada, kung gumaling na ang sakit ng dating pangulo ay dapat itong ilipat sa Fort Sto. Domingo sa Sta. Rosa, Laguna, isang training camp ng Special Action Force ng Philippine National Police (PNP), kung saan din sila ipinakulong na mag-ama ng nagdaang administrasyon Arroyo.
Obserbasyon din ni San Juan Rep. JV Ejercito, isa pang anak ni dating Pangulong Estrada, lubhang mabait ang gobyerno ni Pangulong Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III kay Gng. Arroyo dahil hindi nito ipinaranas sa huli ang dinanas ng kanilang ama sa kamay noon ni PGMA (inisyal ni Arroyo noong pangulo pa).
“Dapat sana sa Crame. Mabait pa nga ang administration kung tutuusin. ‘Yung ginawa niya kay President Erap na pagdakip overkill ‘yun. Talagang ipinahiya nang husto. Ganun ka-ruthless si GMA!” pahayag ni Ejercito.
“Special treatment na iyan!” ito rin angs igaw ni Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Neri Colmenares nang puntahan mismo ng mga pulis si Gng. Arroyo sa kanyang kuwarto sa St. Luke’s para i-proseso ang booking sa halip na imbitahan sa presinto.
Militant group Bayan Muna, for its part, urged the government to detain Arroyo in an ordinary prison cell and not in a hospital.
“Ang punto lang ng Bayan Muna dapat walang special treatment, in the same way na noong panahong presidente siya, she was above everybody else. Hindi siya pwedeng kasuhan. Ngayong hindi siya presidente, she’s still above everybody else,” Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares said.
Atty. Jose Flaminiano said Arroyo is not being given special treatment, adding it is unavoidable to give her a certain degree of consideration given her stature as Philippines’ former president and current Pampanga representative.
“Eh palagay ko wala talagang special treatment. Sinasabi nga ni Father Joaquin Bernas, yung mga former heads of state na ganyan kagaya ni Pangulong [Joseph] Estrada noong araw, they are a class by themselves,” Flaminiano said.
“Kaya hindi mo naman pwedeng sabihin na special treatment, they deserve some degree of consideration.”
In the event the condition of Arroyo improves, Flaminiano admitted that their next move is to request that Arroyo be placed under house arrest.
“Boo! special treatment! dapat dun sya sa mga ka Kosa nya... ( Kahit di pa convicted )”
"Baka red herring yan"
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