Senators allowed to throw party in jail

Manila Times/Makati CityThe Philippine National Police (PNP) has allowed three detained senators to hold a party in their cell inside Camp Crame in Quezon City during the holidays, radio reports said on Wednesday.Senators Jose Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr are detained at the PNP Custodial Center. Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile is under hospital arrest at the PNP General Hospital also in Camp Crame, the PNP’s main headquarters.The three senators have been held at the police camp since they yielded to authorities last June and July. The Sandiganbayan ordered their arrest on plunder and graft charges in connection with the pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by Janet Lim-Napoles.The PNP spokesman, chief superintendent Wilben Mayor, said in the radio reports that visitors of Estrada and Revilla were allowed to bring food items such as lechon (roasted pig) during their visits.But, according to the PNP spokesman, only immediate families of the senators will be allowed to visit them during the holidays.Regular visiting hours at the custodial center is from 1pm to 5pm from Monday to Friday and 8am to 5pm on weekends.Last July, the PNP came under fire for allowing a party hosted by Estrada and Revilla that reportedly lasted way past visiting hours.The party supposedly marked the 25th wedding anniversary of Estrada and his wife Precy. The radio reports said Enrile was allowed to watch the movie Hari ng Tondo at the hospital’s specialised ward on Christmas Day.Estrada had requested the Sandiganbayan for a furlough to spend Christmas at his father’s place and New Year’s at his residence, but the court turned him down.The court ruled that allowing him to leave his detention cell “will set a bad precedent” and “will likewise be regarded as a mockery of the administration of justice”.Revilla did not ask for a similar furlough, fearing a backlash on social media.Last September, when his wife, Cavite representative Lani Mercado-Revilla, was asked by reporters what her birthday wish was for her husband, she replied she wanted his bail petition granted.She said what was important was for their family to be with the senator, hopefully before Christmas.The court’s First Division ruled against the bail plea in early December.Revilla on Monday said he will have a “cold Christmas.”Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has urged the senate to look into reports of corruption at the prosecution service as she expressed serious concerns over what she said was the ingrained practice of corruption among state prosecutors.Santiago, in a resolution that she filed recently, cited the admission of prosecutor general Claro Arellano that corruption does exist among the ranks of the department of justice (DOJ).“Arellano’s admission shows that corruption is rampant in all levels of the government, especially among high-level civil servants,” she said in her resolution.Arellano made the statement in connection with the arrest of Quezon City Assistant Prosecutor Raul Desembrana, who was caught accepting a bribe in an entrapment at Quezon Memorial Circle on November 15, 2014.Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) caught Desembra in the act of accepting P80,000 from Alex Montes, a doctor and who was among the so-called Morong 43, a group of health workers who were detained by the military in 2010 for alleged links with the communist New People’s Army (NPA).Santiago noted that it is imperative for Congress to ensure strong adherence to existing legislation against graft and corruption, regardless of the position of those who are involved.She said government employees who engage in graft and corruption should be punished accordingly.According to the senator, a senate probe of the alleged corruption in the DOJ would determine the seriousness of the problem so that congress can come up with a measure to curb the practice.In August, undersecretary Francisco Baraan 3rd was accused by Lakmodin Saliao of receiving huge bribes in connection with the Maguindanao massacre case.Saliao claimed that government prosecutors handling the case got P50mn to compromise the trial. Baraan allegedly received P20mn.Baraan and other members of the prosecution panel denied the allegation, saying Saliao’s statement was a complete fabrication and full of “holes.”