Beltran sees longer hospital arrest due to unpaid P1M bill

While he laughed off Malacañang’s plan to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its junking of rebellion charges against him, a militant lawmaker is bracing for an extended hospital arrest. Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran admitted Sunday he may have to stay at the Philippine Heart Center due to a 15-month hospital bill amounting to more than P1 million. “Sobrang P1 million ang gastos ko rito. Siyempre ang husgado nagdesisyon ako ang mag-shoulder nito. Ang recourse namin mag-file kami ng petition sa Sandiganbayan charging the people concerned for administrative and criminal offense against us (My hospital bills have amounted to more than P1 million. And the court decided I will have to shoulder the costs. Our recourse is to petition the Sandiganbayan to charge the people concerned for my stay through administrative and criminal charges)," Beltran said in an interview on dzBB radio. He said the petition will take into account that 15 months of his “productive life" as sectoral representative of labor party-list Anakpawis had been wasted. But he said the hospital bill, plus the Solicitor-General’s plan to ask the high court to reconsider its decision, may keep him in the PHC for quite some time. “Matatagalan pa rin ako rito (It looks like I’ll be staying here for quite some time)," he said. Despite his predicament, Beltran said he and his lawyers plan to ask the court to allow him to attend Monday’s special session of the 13th Congress. Earlier, Beltran said he plans to pursue pending bills for wage hikes in the last weeklong session of the 13th Congress. Beltran was one of six militant lawmakers charged by the government with rebellion for supposedly plotting to overthrow the Arroyo government in 2006. However, only he was arrested in February 2006, and eventually placed under “hospital arrest." Last Friday, the Supreme Court junked the rebellion charges against the “Batasan 6" for lack of evidence. Solicitor general Agnes Devanadera said they plan to appeal the decision. Beltran laughed off the solicitor-general’s move, saying it was unlikely the high court will reverse its decision. “Kami malakas ang aming pag-asa na iyan ay ide-deny ng court en banc (We have great hopes the court will deny the OSG’s motion)," he said. - GMANews.TV