Morato seeks house arrest

MANILA, Philippines - Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board member Manuel Morato, who is facing plunder charges along with former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is asking the Sandiganbayan to place him under house arrest.

Morato is under hospital arrest after he underwent a triple heart bypass operation at the St. Luke’s Medical Center last month.

His lawyers led by Dante Diaz said his Morato’s doctors recommended that he be allowed to rest at home to recover while remaining under strict medical supervision.

Cardiologist Maria Adelaida Iboleon-Dy of St. Luke’s said “the patient may be sent home to avoid nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infection as he has already been in the hospital for a month.”

The doctor explained that Morato, 79, had a successful open heart surgery but would have to undergo six weeks of cardiac rehabilitation.

Morato along with former PCSO officials were charged with plunder for alleged misuse of some P365.9 million of the agency’s confidential and intelligence funds.

He was arrested but has yet to be arraigned because of his medical condition. The Sandiganbayan First Division allowed him to be placed under hospital arrest like Arroyo, who is confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC).

Morato’s lawyer said the respondent’s house at 192 Tomas Morato street in Quezon City is only a few minutes away from the St. Luke’s Medical Center.

“Accused Morato is not a flight risk. He can hardly go to the bathroom by himself. He, at the very least, needs nurse aids 24/7 for his most basic needs,” Diaz said.