SPD spruces up detention area for Arroyo

MANILA, Philippines — Anticipating the possible detention of a former commander-in-chief, the Southern Police District (SPD) has begun sprucing up a room in the camp and has been keeping it on standby should the Pasay court order the detention of Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo there.

The SPD’s public information office was rearranged to accommodate a modest folding bed where the former president could lie down while in detention,  according to  Chief Inspector Jenny Tecson, SPD spokesperson.

“We have been instructed by our officer in charge to begin preparing for the eventuality of the former president’s detention in our headquarters,” Tecson said in a phone interview.

The air-conditioned room is about three meters by six meters and has a sink with running water.

Before converting it to a detention area, the office also served as a mini library and media lounge for reporters covering the SPD, whose area includes the cities of Makati, Pasay, Taguig, Parañaque, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa, and the lone municipality of Pateros.

Senior Supt. James Bucayu, the deputy district director for administration and SPD officer-in- charge, wants the room to be ready by Monday morning when  Pasay regional trial court Branch 112 Judge Jesus Mupas receives the return of the arrest warrant from the police, according to Tecson.

Aside from deciding where Arroyo will be detained, the court will also hear the arguments of both prosecution and defense counsels on the necessity of the hold departure order against the former president.

The court deferred action Friday on the government’s urgent motion for a hold order against Arroyo who was then set to leave for Singapore for a medical checkup.

The Supreme Court affirmed a temporary restraining order against a justice department memo that placed Arroyo on a government watch list.

Instead, the court issued a warrant of arrest against the former president, saying it found probable cause on electoral sabotage case prepared by government prosecutors. Mupas said he based the conclusion on the statements of witnesses Norie Unas, Zaldy Ampatuan and Lintang Bedol, Arroyo’s co-accused.

The warrant was served at the St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City in Taguig where the former president has been confined. Police decided to keep her at the medical facility owing to her unstable medical condition.

Her booking, which included the taking of mug shots and her fingerprints, was also done in the hospital on Saturday afternoon as she remained hooked on a intravenous drip.