Senator Sergio Osmeña III Saturday said that everybody should be treated equally under the law and there is no such thing as house arrest for former presidents and jail for non-former presidents.

“That is not right,” Osmeña said.

The lawyers of former president Gloria Arroyo are pushing to have her held under house arrest while she in on trial for electoral sabotage.

Arroyo’s legal spokesperson, Raul Lambino, Saturday conceded that with government prosecutors’ strong opposition to Arroyo’s house arrest she could suffer the same fate as former President Joseph Estrada.

Osmeña, who was in Bacolod Saturday, said that Estrada had been placed in a holding cell and later at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center under Arroyo’s administration.

But he also said the matter is best left to the court to decide.

On the legality of the act of the government in preventing Arroyo from leaving the country, Osmeña said: “All I know is that (justice secretary) Leila de Lima tried to protect the national interest by not allowing somebody to flee from justice. Whether the process was perfectly legal, I cannot say.”

Osmeña said de Lima “had good intentions and we’re hopeful that the courts will sustain her decision.”

He said if Arroyo is granted house arrest, it will not be easy for law enforcers to guard a big house where you have no absolute control over its internal workings.

About 30 to 40 guards would have to secure her house, unlike if she is detained in a smaller place, he added.

Osmeña also said the perception of many is that the Supreme Court is still Gloria Arroyo controlled, and that its decisions would tend to favor her side.

“Unfortunately, whether it is true or not true, that’s still the perception of the majority, that the SC is Arroyo-controlled,” he added.*CPG

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