Not enough grounds cited for Arroyo house arrest—De Lima

MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Saturday she believed the lawyers of embattled former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have failed to present enough reasons to back her motion asking a Pasay City court to place her under house arrest instead of in jail while facing trial on a charge of electoral sabotage.

“They have not given enough reasons, basis in asking for house or hospital arrest, but then it will be up to the court to decide on where to detain (Arroyo),” De Lima told reporters.

De Lima was at Camp Karingal in Quezon City for a round of target shooting for prosecutors called the Secretary of Justice Shootfest.

The justice secretary noted that the prosecution has manifested to the court its desire to have Arroyo detained at the Southern Police District headquarters in Taguig City.

Judge Jesus Mupas of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court’s Branch 112, which is handling the Arroyo case, is reportedly set to inspect the detention facility Monday.

Arroyo, who now represents Pampanga in the lower house of Congress, is charged with electoral sabotage along with former election official Lintang Bedol and former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. for allegedly conspiring to rig the results of the 2007 senatorial polls in Maguindanao.

In an interview with reporters, De Lima said she preferred that Arroyo be held at the SPD.

“If there is no basis for hospital confinement, then there is no basis to ask for house arrest,” she said in  light of admissions by Arroyo’s own lawyers that her health was improving.

“They (Arroyo lawyers) have to convince the court that the house arrest is the best arrangement,” De Lima said.

Arroyo’s lawyers have withdrawn a motion asking that the former President remain under hospital arrest, saying she was “medically fit” to leave the hospital. They have instead asked the court to have Arroyo placed under house arrest.

Asked on how the prosecution could convince the judge to commit Arroyo to the SPD, De Lima said: “I do not want to advance certain ideas. But the defense has not yet cited sufficient reasons for house arrest.”

She added that the defense’s security concerns as to the place of detention can be addressed as well.