Nazario on Erap villa: How about donating it?

It may be a high price to pay for the privilege of a virtual house arrest. But former President Joseph Estrada may well be spared the hardship of being detained at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal if he agrees to "donate" his nearby 15-hectare Mediterranean-style vacation house across the facility.

In a hearing yesterday, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Minita Chico-Nazario asked defense lawyers Manuel Pamaran, Jose Flaminiano and Noel Malaya if their client was willing to "donate" the property to the government, but the counsels wouldn’t oblige.

"Why don’t you just donate the property?" she asked the lawyers, apparently half in jest.

She said that this would benefit both Estrada and the government as this "will enlarge Camp Capinpin" by extending its boundary toward the controversial villa.

Malaya, who filed the motion to modify custodial arrangement, clarified that their proposal to have Estrada transferred from the military camp to his villa "does not include transfer of ownership."

He said their offer was simply for the resthouse to be placed "under the supervision and control" of the Sandiganbayan and the Philippine National Police (PNP) during the duration of the trial.

Chief Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio stood pat on their panel’s position against the motion, as "it is not legally possible."

"The State cannot take over a private property unless it is ill-gotten. Perhaps if the defense could attach a deed of donation," he said.

He told Nazario and Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Mrs. Cristina Cortez-Estrada that allowing Estrada to be detained at his resthouse amounted to a house arrest, which is not sanctioned by Philippine laws.

Both panels were given seven days each to submit their positions on proposals to detain Estrada in his villa, to have him attend a weekly physical therapy program at Cardinal Santos Hospital in San Juan, and to allow him to pay a weekly visit to his ailing 98-year-old mother, Mary Marcelo-Ejercito.