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House panel approves reso for Arroyo house arrest
(Updated 1:37 p.m.) A resolution for the house arrest of former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been approved at the committee level at the House of Representatives, a report said Tuesday.
A report from radio dzBB said the House Committee on Justice voted 8-1 to approve Resolution 1908, urging the Sandiganbayan to grant house arrest to Arroyo. The resolution was authored by former Arroyo Cabinet member and 1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello.
Arroyo, who has a spine disease, has been under hospital arrest at the Veterans' Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City since 2012 for allegedly conspiring to fraudulently divert P366 million in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office "for personal gain" from 2008 to 2010.
Among those present in Tuesday's hearing was Dr. Martha Nucum of the VMMC who said they don't see any significant medical improvement in Arroyo's condition. A representative from the Philippine National Police, meanwhile, said they do not see Arroyo as a flight risk.
Only Akbayan party-list Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez opposed the resolution, saying there is no need for the House of Representatives to be involved in the case. He said Arroyo has more than enough representatives in other fora working for her appeal for house arrest.
Last month, Arroyo's lawyers asked the Sandiganbayan First Division that she be placed on house arrest "under humanitarian considerations," citing that her health has rapidly deteriorated under detention.
However, prosecutors have formally opposed the house arrest, saying it was "an insult to the judicial system and to other detention prisoners also facing plunder before the Sandiganbayan."
They also argued that the law does not grant house arrest to an accused whose bail motion and demmurer to evidence had been denied.
In a statement through his legal counsel and spokesman Ferdinand Topacio, Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, thanked the committee for approving the resolution.
"The House Resolution is a benediction of our family's stand that evidence of her guilt is not strong, and we hope that it will in no small measure show the other branches of government that there are just and compelling grounds to grant her house arrest or even temporary liberty on bail," he said. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino, Lei Alviz and Victoria Tulad/KBK/NB, GMA News
A report from radio dzBB said the House Committee on Justice voted 8-1 to approve Resolution 1908, urging the Sandiganbayan to grant house arrest to Arroyo. The resolution was authored by former Arroyo Cabinet member and 1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello.
Arroyo, who has a spine disease, has been under hospital arrest at the Veterans' Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City since 2012 for allegedly conspiring to fraudulently divert P366 million in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office "for personal gain" from 2008 to 2010.
Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. told reporters the PNP personnel they invited during the hearing assured that Arroyo was no longer a flight risk.
Taking humanitarian reasons into consideration, Tupas and seven others voted for the resolution. Nevertheless, he said the Sandiganbayan would still be the one to decide whether to grant the house arrest request.
Taking humanitarian reasons into consideration, Tupas and seven others voted for the resolution. Nevertheless, he said the Sandiganbayan would still be the one to decide whether to grant the house arrest request.
Tupas cited former President Joseph Estrada's case as a precedent.
Among those present in Tuesday's hearing was Dr. Martha Nucum of the VMMC who said they don't see any significant medical improvement in Arroyo's condition. A representative from the Philippine National Police, meanwhile, said they do not see Arroyo as a flight risk.
Only Akbayan party-list Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez opposed the resolution, saying there is no need for the House of Representatives to be involved in the case. He said Arroyo has more than enough representatives in other fora working for her appeal for house arrest.
Last month, Arroyo's lawyers asked the Sandiganbayan First Division that she be placed on house arrest "under humanitarian considerations," citing that her health has rapidly deteriorated under detention.
However, prosecutors have formally opposed the house arrest, saying it was "an insult to the judicial system and to other detention prisoners also facing plunder before the Sandiganbayan."
They also argued that the law does not grant house arrest to an accused whose bail motion and demmurer to evidence had been denied.
In a statement through his legal counsel and spokesman Ferdinand Topacio, Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, thanked the committee for approving the resolution.
"The House Resolution is a benediction of our family's stand that evidence of her guilt is not strong, and we hope that it will in no small measure show the other branches of government that there are just and compelling grounds to grant her house arrest or even temporary liberty on bail," he said. —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino, Lei Alviz and Victoria Tulad/KBK/NB, GMA News
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