Treat Gloria Arroyo with dignity, Enrile urges

MANILA, Philippines—Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Friday disagreed with the Commission on Elections’ proposal to transfer Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to a regular jail, saying this was “too oppressive” for the former President.

“We should give respect to a former president of the country. Whatever you may say about her or him, we must treat them with a certain degree of civility and dignity. If she’s going to be convicted, then punish her. But before that, given the fact that she has handled the country for nine years, we have to be very careful. We might become too oppressive, too rigid,” he told reporters.

He said even deposed President Joseph Estrada was accorded some respect by the Arroyo administration while being tried for plunder. He said the former leader, who was initially detained in police and military camps, was allowed to stay in his resthouse in Tanay, Rizal, under house arrest.

Enrile said he himself stayed in the quarters of a police official when he was arrested in connection with the May 1, 2001, siege of Malacañang.

The Comelec, in a motion filed with the Pasay City Regional Trial Court, moved for the transfer of Arroyo from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) to a regular jail if the hospital certifies that she’s well.

Comelec officials said they had reserved a detention facility for her at the Southern Police District in Taguig City.

Arroyo, now a member of the House of Representatives, has been detained at a presidential suite at the government hospital in Quezon City while awaiting trial for electoral sabotage before a Pasay regional trial court.