Congresswoman Gloria Arroyo.
MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 2, 2011) – Human rights advocates have criticized Manila for giving special treatment to former President and now Congresswoman Gloria Arroyo, who is accused of electoral fraud, among other criminal charges.
A court has ordered Arroyo, who is staying at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City , transferred to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City
“Hospital detention for a notorious human rights violator like Gloria Arroyo, who has no life-threatening illness, is special treatment at its best. This is in stark contrast to the situation of the sick and elderly women political prisoners and other political prisoners who are languishing under dire conditions in jail. This is injustice and double standard at its worst,” said Cristina Palabay, convenor of Tanggol Bayi.
Palabay cited the case of Moreta Alegre, a 65-year old farmer who was imprisoned at the Correctional Institution for Women together with her husband Jesus and son Selman, because of trumped up charges of murder, and is now suffering with arthritis, hypertension and weak heart due to long years of imprisonment.
Moreta has been in prison for seven years already.
“Alegre, together with her family, was among the vocal critics of land grabbing in their community in Negros Occidental, when the landlord heaped upon them fabricated charges of murder to silence their opposition,” Palabay said.
She said Arroyo should be detained in a jail facility, in the interest of justice, and should not be accorded privileges such as hospital detention.
Palabay said there are over 350 political prisoners and 77 of them were arrested under the Aquino regime. Of this number, 35 women are political prisoners and 43 more are sick and 10 elderly.
“They were subjected to illegal arrest and detention, extreme torture and unjust conviction on trumped up charges. Women and children, in particular, are doubly violated through sexual molestation or rape. Political prisoners, more often are charged with criminal offenses to deny the political nature of their case and to reduce them as common criminals,” she said.
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