Manila: Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile is opposed to the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) proposal to move former president Gloria Arroyo to a regular detention facility.
Enrile, who was justice secretary in the Marcos administration, said to move Arroyo to a regular jail facility could be illegal as she is yet to be proven guilty of electoral sabotage charges.
"If she is going to be convicted, then punish her. But before that, at least given the fact that she has handled this country for nine years, I think we have to be very careful. We might be accused of being too oppressive, too rigid," he said.
Arroyo had been accused of electoral sabotage, a non-bailable offence under the country's law. In December 9, 2011, she was taken from her hospital suite at Saint Lukes' Medical Centre in Taguig City and brought to the government-run Veterans Memorial Medical Centre (VMMC) in Quezon City.
Arroyo, who now represents the province of Pampanga in Congress, has been suffering from various medical conditions.
Accusation
"Maybe we should give respect to the former president. We must treat her with a certain degree of civility and dignity," Enrile said.
Arroyo as well as former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan and Comelec supervisor Lintang Bedol have been accused of manipulating the voting results in Maguindanao province during the 2007 elections.
