EDITORIAL - Sick… of detention

We’ve seen this drama so many times in the past that new versions would be certified flops at the box office: A disgraced VIP is arrested for serious crimes and is detained with no bail allowed. Within days, or sometimes just overnight, the detainee complains of illness and is moved to a hospital.

Former top officials who were held without bail whipped out wheelchairs and neck braces to claim illness and justify detention in special facilities such as hospitals or their own homes. When cleared, they suddenly regained their health, and ditched the trappings of a medical problem warranting hospital arrest.

Relatives of victims are seeing this scenario playing out again in the case of expelled Negros Oriental congressman Arnolfo Teves Jr. Since arriving by private plane in April 2023 in Timor-Leste and staying there for two years, Teves appeared to be healthy enough to enjoy rounds of golf and to taunt Philippine authorities on video.

After Timor-Leste expelled him, Teves had no complaints when he was taken to the detention facility of the National Bureau of Investigation within the New Bilibid Prison compound in Muntinlupa.

Last week, however, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 51 ordered his transfer to a regular jail at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig. The RTC rejected his plea to remain in NBI custody ostensibly because he feared torture and degrading treatment in a regular jail.

As if on cue, Teves is now in a hospital supposedly due to severe stomach pain. Is it plain diarrhea from substandard food in jail? That won’t warrant his transfer to a top-tier hospital where he can enjoy confinement in a private, air-conditioned suite.

His lawyer said the stomach pain was so severe it made Teves double up. The affliction reportedly requires surgery. If it’s a swollen appendix – the typical reason for emergency surgery involving severe stomach pain – surely Teves can afford a non-invasive laparascopic appendectomy. This procedure will allow him to be back in detention within three days, under the care of government health workers who attend to the medical needs of ordinary detainees.

Even suspects in heinous crimes deserve due process and humane treatment. But the privilege must be applied equally, with no VIP treatment for anyone. Will indigent detainees who complain of stomach pain be brought to expensive hospitals? Incarceration can surely cause extreme stress that can lead to a host of illnesses. But prosecutors and the courts must ensure that the privilege is not abused.