CBCP exec backs house arrest for JPE

MANILA, Philippines - Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile should be allowed house arrest since he is already 91 years old and suffering from pneumonia.

That’s the belief of Fr. Melvin Castro, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life executive secretary.

“For humanitarian reasons, place him simply under house arrest,” Castro said.

“I think detainees who are very old and sickly should be simply placed under house arrest. I believe it would even be economical for the government so long that crimes committed were not heinous and that they not pose a threat to society.”

Detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said yesterday no birthday party was held for Enrile at the Philippine National Police General Hospital in Camp Crame last month.

He went to see Enrile on his birthday last Feb. 14, when he had a chance following his checkup, he added.

Speaking to reporters after his bail hearing at the Sandiganbayan, Estrada said the specialty ward where his blood pressure was taken was only about three steps away from Enrile’s room.

“Well, first of all, all of my movement inside Camp Crame, and that of Sen. (Ramon) Revilla, are coordinated with the police,” he said. “There was no party to speak of.”

Estrada said he sought permission from custodial center officials for him to undergo a medical checkup as he was feeling pain in his shoulders and his nape.

“So they coordinated with the doctor at PNP General Hospital,” he said.

“So I went there at 1:30 p.m. I went straight to that specialty ward because the doctor was already there.”  

Estrada said the statement of Dr. Raymond Santos that he was in the emergency room is false, and that Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II was misinformed.

“In going to the specialty ward, I had my blood pressure immediately taken,” he said.

“And it so happened that it was the birthday of Sen. Enrile. It was just near. Probably just three steps away.

“Of course, being a former Senate president and still my colleague in the Senate, I greeted him a happy birthday. So what’s wrong about it?”

Estrada said he only met with Enrile for some 10 minutes, and that it was all incidental.

“I hope they will not make a big issue out of it,” he said.

Acting Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III has asked colleagues to come out with a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate for Enrile be detained at home in consideration of his age and medical condition.

In a manifestation during yesterday’s plenary session, Sotto said Enrile must be allowed to be detained at his residence in Makati as the PNP General Hospital might not be properly equipped to handle his condition.

“My thesis is, under the present circumstances, justice is no less diminished should Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile be detained at his residence in Makati,” read Sotto’s manifestation.

“He is not a flight risk and neither is he intending to be one.

“I am not here to plead for mercy. Sen. Enrile has not been convicted. I simply want to rely on our operating principle that innocence is presumed. Furthermore, upon reaching the age of 70, even convicted criminals are considered for pardon under present rules of the Department of Justice.” 

Sotto said his appeal for the approval of a resolution was being done out of compassion for Enrile since he is not yet  convicted of any crime.

“May I move that a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate or at least some of its members, be passed and ask the proper authority to exercise its judicial compassion and allow Sen. Enrile to be detained at his residence in Makati, which is near the Makati Medical Center,” he said.

Senate President Franklin Drilon referred Sotto’s manifestation   to the Rules Committee chaired by Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano with the instruction that this matter be given priority.

Enrile is now in stable condition at the Makati Medical Center, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Supe .Generoso Cerbo Jr.

“I have spoken with the PNP doctors, they said the senator is in stable condition,” he said.

Cerbo said Enrile’s family has chosen not to issue any medical bulletin to the media.

“We respect the request of the family,” he said.

Chief Insp. Raymond Santos, the PNP General Hospital emergency division chief, said Enrile had pneumonia and fever when he was taken to MMC.

“Pneumonia is very dangerous for newborn babies and the elderly like the senator,” he said.

Santos said MMC will conduct arterial blood test on Enrile.

“When you are having  pneumonia, your pulmonary system doesn’t really work well,” he said. “So in order to detect and for more accurate tests, we decided to transfer him to the MMC.” 

Another lawmaker detained 

APEC Rep. Edgar Valdez will be moved to a detenion facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig from the PNP General Hospital as soon as he gets better.

He will be detained there while undergoing trial for plunder for alleged involvement in the pork barrel fund scam.

The Sandiganbayan denied yesterday his request to be detained at the PNP  custodial center in Camp Crame.

Valdez surrendered to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) last week after arrest orders were issued against him.

The Sandiganbayan ordered his transfer from the anti-graft court’s basement holding cell to the medical facility because of uncontrolled hypertension.

Valdez is accused of pocketing some P57.7 million in kickbacks or commissions from the pork barrel fund scam. –  Evelyn Macairan, Michael Punongbayan, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marvin Sy