House won’t offer custody to Arroyo after arrest

The House of Representatives will not offer to take custody of former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after she was arrested for electoral sabotage charges, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Sunday. Belmonte said the House will leave it to the court to determine Mrs. Arroyo’s fate. “Her [Mrs. Arroyo’s] recourse is in the judicial system, not in the House of Representatives" he said in a text message. Mrs. Arroyo was placed under police custody on Friday hours after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decided to file a case against her for the non-bailable crime of electoral sabotage before a Pasay court. The former President is being accused giving orders to rig the 2007 elections in favor of administration candidates during her incumbency. Despite her arrest, Mrs. Arroyo remains confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City due to bone mineral disorder and hypoparathyroidism. Authorities, however, have already prepared an air-conditioned detention area for Mrs. Arroyo at the Southern Police District headquarters in Taguig City, where she may be transferred once she has recuperated. Still a House member Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, meanwhile, said that Mrs. Arroyo will keep her post as Pampanga representative even after she was taken into police custody. “She will retain her seat because she has not yet been convicted or found guilty of the charge of electoral sabotage," he said in a separate text message. He added that the former President could not be the subject of an ethics complaint at the chamber in relation to the poll fraud charges, since the supposed crime occurred when she was not yet a congresswoman. Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, for his part, called on fellow members of the House minority to consider giving her membership in the chamber’s various committees to other lawmakers. “Her [Mrs. Arroyo’s] arrest might mean her prolonged absence and so the House leadership, including the minority, might want to consider giving her committee memberships to our other colleagues," he said. Mrs. Arroyo is currently a member of nine House committees, including the powerful appropriations panel. — KBK, GMA News