House issues plea to Sandigan for Arroyo’s house arrest

THE House of Representatives has expressed its sentiment urging the Sandiganbayan to put former president now Pampanga representative Gloria Arroyo under house arrest for humanitarian considerations.

This after the lower chamber adopted on Thursday House Resolution 2153 entitled “Resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to recommend house arrest for former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for humanitarian considerations.”

The resolution was adopted by voice voting.

Arroyo, 68, is under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) for plunder over the alleged misuse of P366 million in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) from 2008 to 2010 for personal gain.

The former president is confined at the VMMC as she claimed to be suffering from cervical spondylosis, a degenerative disease of the bones and cartilage of the neck.

Arroyo had also complained of “generalized body weakness, persistent pain over the nuchal and left shoulder with numbness of both hands and frequent episodes of choking,” according to the VMMC.

The House resolution was made after Arroyo’s VMMC doctor Martha Nucum told the House Committee on Justice that the condition of the former president, who was also diagnosed with cervical spine radiculopathy and degenerative lumbar spine disease, did not improve since she was placed under hospital detention.

The resolution also cited the message of mercy and compassion of Pope Francis, who visited the country in January.

“Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been a public servant for nearly 30 years, and occupied the highest position in the land for 10 years during which she implemented projects and programs that helped form the current economic and political landscape of the Philippines,” the resolution read.

“There is a need for the House of Representatives to present a united plea, on humanitarian and medical grounds, to recommend house arrest for former President Gloria Arroyo as she awaits the resolution of the cases against her,” it added.

In an interview at the Sandiganbayan, Arroyo’s lawyer Laurence Arroyo said that the resolution would show that the people’s representatives also support Arroyo’s house arrest.

But the lawyer said the resolution would not affect the Sandiganbayan’s hearings on Arroyo’s formal motion before the antigraft court First Division to modify her custodial arrangement to allow her house arrest.

“The Court is an independent branch of government. It will just rule based on the evidence before it and arguments we have advanced before the court. Nakakatulong ang House Resolution in the sense that there is some support from the representatives of the people and that this is not an unpopular decision,” Atty. Arroyo said.

Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang has said that the resolution will not affect the court’s decision on the case.

Arroyo filed the motion for house arrest a day after the antigraft court’s first division denied her demurrer of evidence, a move to dismiss the supposedly weak evidence against her and dismiss the case.

The authors of the resolution are Representatives Silvestre Bello III (1-BAP partylist, and former Justice Secretary of Arroyo), Nicasio Aliping Jr. (Baguio city), Niel Tupas Jr. (Iloilo ), Rodolfo Farinas (Ilocos Norte), Victoria Noel, (An Waray partylist), Samuel Pagdilao (ACT-CIS), Andres Salvacion Jr. (Leyte), Evelina Escudero (Sorsogon), and Maximo Rodriguez Jr. (Abante Mindanao). AC