House arrest or detention cell for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?

It was an all-star cast that was at the Kapihan sa Manila at the Diamond Hotel last Monday: Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes, Senators Panfilo Lacson and Francis Pangilinan, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, and Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya.

Towards the end of the forum, I asked each of them the question that everyone is talking about: Should former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) be confined in her own home or in a government detention cell? Her lawyers have filed a petition with the Pasay regional trial court, which is trying the case, that she be allowed a house arrest.

Brillantes, the principal complainant in the electoral sabotage case against GMA, said, “Nowhere else but in a detention cell.” After the forum, he amplified on his statement: “Our position is very clear. It should be in a detention facility. We will not agree if it is a private hospital. We will not agree to house arrest.”

Lacson said she should be confined in a detention cell. “If there is anybody who should be blamed for placing her in a humiliating position it is GMA herself,” he said.

Pangilinan also said she should be held in a detention cell. Asked about a possible international backlash as Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Gregorio Honasan had warned, Pangilinan replied, “The backlash would happen if she is allowed to escape and she never comes back.”

Domingo also opted for a detention facility, but Maglaya begged to withhold comment.

House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman cited history in a statement to media urging house arrest for GMA. He cited Augusto Pinochet, Paris Hilton, Nikita Khrushchev, Aung San Suu Kyi and Galileo Galilei who were all allowed to be placed under house arrest. “Hospital and house arrests are accepted detention measures in lieu of prison confinement, particularly during the pretrial and preconviction phases of criminal prosecution,” Lagman said.

Alas, Lagman’s knowledge of history is incomplete. He forgot that only recently, some national leaders in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan went straight to jail to await their trials.

Former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo, arrested in 1995 for accepting $300 million in bribes from Japanese businessmen during his rule, was immediately confined to a solitary cell in the Seoul Detention Center. There was no international backlash.

Another former South Korean president, Chun Doo-hwan, was arrested, also in 1995, for ordering a crackdown on protesters that left hundreds of people dead. He was taken from his home straight to jail. There was no international backlash.

In Taiwan, former President Chen Shui-bian, arrested on corruption charges in 2008, was jailed while awaiting charges. There was no international backlash.

Then, of course, there were the numerous kings and queens in medieval history who were confined in towers before their heads were cut off. I suggest Lagman read more history books.

But why go that far? There is a precedent right here in the Philippines. When GMA deposed former President Joseph Estrada, he was confined in detention cells in military camps, before he was confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center. There was no international backlash. It was only much later that he was held in his vacation house in Tanay right beside the military camp. GMA should be treated the same way he treated her predecessor.

House arrest or detention cell? The question has stirred much debate among Filipinos. Media is being deluged with statements from concerned groups urging one or the other.

Militant colleagues of Lagman in the House of Representatives also oppose house arrest for GMA, disputing the claims of Santiago and Honasan that efforts to “humiliate GMA could provoke an international backlash.”

“It will be more embarrassing for the Philippines if we do not follow our own laws just to accommodate a former president,” said Kabataan Rep. Raymond Palatino. “The international community will respect us more if we will jail GMA because we will send a message that we punish those who violate our laws.”

“House arrest is a double standard,” said Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan. “It is a rest, it is not arrest.”

“Everybody should be equal in the eyes of the law,” said Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano.

The militant lawmakers have filed a resolution urging the detention of GMA in an ordinary jail “just like any other ordinary person accused of a nonbailable offense.”

A house arrest this early, said the resolution, “constitutes special treatment given to Arroyo and is unacceptable for it only shows how the powerful and the rich continue to be given preferential treatment despite the terrible crimes of which they are accused.”

But Trade Secretary Domingo and Undersecretary Malaya have other things in their minds. They are more concerned about the cheap but substandard Christmas lights and toys flooding the market this Christmas season.

The Christmas lights, they said, can cause fires because they are substandard. The toys, they added, are colored with paint that contain lead. Lead, when ingested, is toxic to the body. It accumulates in the body and affects the brain. When children put the toys in their mouths, they ingest the lead. Even some beautifully-colored Christmas mugs contain lead.

How will the public know which products to buy?

In the case of Christmas lights, look for the seal of the DTI, they said. No seal, no sale.

In the case of toys and mugs, look for the name of the manufacturer. If it has none, don’t buy it.

If the product is too cheap, be wary.