GRAFT RAPS / GMA IS AN IDEAL DETAINEE
[PHOTO - Former President
and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo]
MANILA,
MARCH 29, 2012 (INQUIRER) By
Leila B. Salaverria - Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's bail hearing
for graft cases was held Tuesday in her detention room at the Veterans Memorial
Medical Center.
Arroyo, who is detained at the hospital on charges of electoral sabotage,
faces the new graft charges in connection with the canceled $329 million
National Broadband Network deal with China's ZTE Corp.
She was fingerprinted and made to sign forms before officials of the
Sandiganbayan Fourth Division led by clerk of court Joffre Zapata.
The Sandiganbayan had allowed the former President to complete her bail
processing at the VMMC because having her go to the antigraft court would have
required a lot of security preparations and expenses.
No mugshots were taken but she was required to submit photographs.
These steps completed the processing of her bail. The process took about 20
minutes.
Last week, Arroyo's lawyer posted bail of P70,000 for three criminal cases
stemming from the NBN-ZTE deal.
Arroyo posted bail after the court issued arrest warrants against her and her
co-accused, who are her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo, former elections chief
Benjamin Abalos and former Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro
Mendoza.
Arroyo's posting of bail in her graft case does not mean that she will be
freed as her other charge of electoral sabotage is a nonbailable offense.
Zapata said Arroyo was joined by her lawyers when the court staff took her
fingerprints and had her fill out the necessary forms.
Not much discussion
"The [former] president was quiet," he said.
He also said there was not much discussion during the process. He engaged
mostly in small talk with the lawyers.
Zapata also earlier explained that the Sandiganbayan does not take mugshots
because it is not part of court procedures. An accused is just required to
submit pictures showing the front, left and right of his or her face.
Gloria Arroyo: Patient patient, ideal detainee, into
landscaping By Nancy C. Carvajal Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:14 am |
Sunday, March 25th, 2012
Has detention tamed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?
The imperious, cantankerous and short-fused former President is not her old
self in her special suite at Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon
City. She is under police custody while being tried on charges of electoral
sabotage.
It is not a bailable offense, but Arroyo's lawyers are trying to convince
Judge Jesus Mupas of Branch 112 of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court that her
health condition remains delicate. She is allegedly suffering from a
debilitating spinal condition and she needs rest. And since she is no flight
risk, she should be allowed bail.
She waits patiently, throwing no tantrums, as the lawyers argue her case for
temporary liberty, an almost incredible change from the President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo who stretched the laws and even the Constitution to the limits
to have her way. What Gloria wanted, Gloria got, even journalists who cover
Malacañang remember.
The loss of power may have pulled her down to earth. She now appears to be a
model detainee. Police Senior Supt. Richard Fiesta, who supervises Arroyo's
security, said that so far the security team has encountered no problems with
their VIP prisoner.
"She is an ideal detainee," Fiesta said. "So far, we do not have any problems
with GMA. She obeys the detention regulations."
Zero complaint
In her nearly four months of detention, Arroyo has not complained about her
curtailed liberty. "Zero complaint," Fiesta said. "She just smiles and waves to
policemen deployed near the suite when she comes out for her morning sun."
It is her visitors who grumble about the strict security. "Everything that
goes in is inspected and checked and [that seems to be OK with her]," Fiesta
said. She has not tried to break the court's order banning her from using cell
phones and accessing the Internet.
"Like an ordinary inmate, she is prohibited from using electronic gadgets,
and the ban on cell phones and Internet access is strictly implemented, and she
obeys it," Fiesta said.
Arroyo also has not tried to get out of her suite other than to get morning
sunshine. Her doctors want her to get afternoon sunshine as well but she has not
tried to go for it.
Fiesta said Arroyo also had not complained about the way the police handled
her security every time she was allowed to leave the suite. "She just nods her
head and says, 'OK' when informed of the plan," Fiesta said.
Dr. Nona Legaspi, VMMC director, also said Arroyo had been dutifully obeying
hospital rules. "She follows rules and does not complain," Legaspi told the
Inquirer.
One request
Neither has Arroyo insisted on having her own doctor and instead has accepted
care from VMMC doctors. "Her medical and healthcare supervision must be with our
doctor in coordination with her private physicians, and she readily agreed, "
Legaspi said.
Arroyo also posed no opposition to the imposition of time limit on her
visitors. "We also take into consideration the other patients of the hospital
[who] could be affected if we allowed her to receive visitors anytime," Legaspi
explained.
But Arroyo has made only one request that was readily granted. "She asked
that she be allowed to landscape the grounds of the presidential suite, and I
approved it," Legaspi said.
This the taxpayers may not like to hear: Arroyo is not spending anything for
her stay in the VMMC. "The government is paying for her stay in the hospital,
not her," Legaspi said. But this is because Arroyo is primarily a detainee and
her being a patient is only secondary. The government spends for her upkeep
there as it pays for the upkeep of all other prisoners.
The government could save some money if Arroyo's trial could be held in the
hospital. Legaspi said she was open to this idea. "We have so much space here,
and the hospital is big, we have plenty of room," she said.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
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