Palace: No pressure from INC to allow house arrest for Erap

Malacañang denied yesterday reports that the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) sect is pressing for the house of arrest of ousted President Joseph Estrada in exchange for its support for President Arroyo in next year’s elections.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo will abide by any decision of the Sandiganbayan on Estrada’s request to be placed under house arrest.

"Those are all speculations that seem to undermine the independence of the court," he said. "The court can consult the doctors to determine whether the health condition of Estrada would require house arrest."

Bunye said Malacañang cannot interfere with any Sandiganbayan decision to allow Estrada’s house arrest or return him to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) for the duration of his trial.

Quoting a government official, the news report (not The STAR) said Estrada is the key to INC support for Mrs. Arroyo when she runs next year.

Estrada has asked Sandiganbayan Justice Edilberto Sandoval to help him be allowed "temporary house arrest" in his home in North Greenhills so he could be near his 93-year-old mother, Mary Marcelo-Ejercito.

He personally made the request when Sandoval, along with Justices Minita Chico-Nazario and Teresita Leonardo de Castro inspected his barbed wire-enclosed detention quarters at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal last Monday.

"I want to be near my ailing mother who is always requesting for me," he said.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Ricardo Saludo said Malacañang will not stop the Sandiganbayan or the Philippine National Police (PNP) from moving Estrada to his resort in Tanay, a few meters away from Camp Capinpin.

"The matter is between the Philippine National Police and the Office of the Ombudsman," he said. "It’s not the Palace... (who) would decide (on the issue)."

On the other hand, PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said he wants Estrada to be detained at Camp Capinpin.

Ebdane said the trial of Estrada should also be moved from the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City to the headquarters of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division in Tanay.

"To be practical, it is better that he stays in Capinpin to economize on (our) forces and expenses," he said.

"In fact, we see the possibility of providing a court(room to hear Estrada’s case) in that site, if possible."

Ebdane said the Sandiganbayan has authorized the PNP to move Estrada to another place of detention as long as the court’s sheriff and the defense are informed at least an hour in advance.

Ebdane lambasted the prosecution for threatening to ask the court to declare the PNP in contempt for moving Estrada from the VMMC in Quezon City to Camp Capinpin.

"We have gone through the process," he said.

No other detention facility is available for Estrada, said Chief Superintendent Doroteo Reyes, PNP legal director. –Mayen Jaymalin