Special treatment for Gigi leads to finger pointing

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday tossed the blame to the Sandiganbayan over criticisms of giving preferential treatment to the accused in the pork barrel scam by providing them with special detention facilities.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the government is merely following court orders when it comes to accommodating detainees.

Coloma stressed they wanted to set the record straight regarding the alleged VIP treatment the administration has been giving some of the accused in the pork barrel scam.

“It is not the policy of this administration to provide special treatment to so-called VIP detainees,” Coloma said.

Coloma made the statement in reply to criticisms over the alleged preferential treatment given to lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, one of the accused in the pork barrel scam.

Coloma said the government is merely following orders from the Sandiganbayan on where the accused should be detained.

He said the task of the government is to provide equal treatment to all detainees, downplaying complaints of inmates from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on the supposed special treatment of the accused in the pork barrel scam.

“It is a different situation when it comes to the detention of the three senators and other high government officials accused in the case, where they are considered high profile and high risk detainees and we are trying our best to address the situation considering their status,” Coloma said, referring to Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., who are accused of misuse of their pork barrel funds.

Estrada and Revilla are detained at the Custodial Center of the Philippine National Police while Enrile is under hospital arrest at the PNP General Hospital, all located in Camp Crame.

However, Reyes was ordered by the Sandiganbayan to be detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. The former chief of staff of Enrile was later brought to the Philippine Heart Center under intensive care.

The Sandiganbayan, on the other hand, said the BJMP has the authority to bring detainees such as Reyes to hospitals even without prior court permission.

Associate Justice Samuel Martires of the Sandiganbayan Third Division made this clear during a hearing last week. He said the transfer is necessary if there is an urgent need for an inmate to be given medical attention.

Martires slammed the opinions of several critics that Reyes should have not been brought to the Taguig Pateros District Hospital (TPDH) when she suffered a panic attack after being brought to Camp Bagong Diwa.

Martires stressed jail officials could bring prisoners to a hospital even without a court order during emergency situations.

Reyes failed to attend her scheduled arraignment on Friday upon advice of her doctors. – Michael Punongbayan, Reinir Padua