|
Monday, June 04, 2007
Militant legislator can't pay hospital bill
MANILA -- Detained Anakpawis party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran said he cannot pay his P700,000 hospital bill and will have to offer a promissory note for him to be released from the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) in Quezon City.
The cash-strapped Beltran, who declared P25,250 net worth in his latest statement of assets and liabilities, is the second poorest congressman. He issued the statement on his financial standings in light of the Supreme Court (SC) decision dismissing the rebellion charges against him and five other prominent militant lawmakers known as the "Batasan 5".
Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007 Coverage
View here the list of local winners
Beltran said he already spent P300,000 for his hospital bills. He said his funds for specialty hospitals in his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) were depleted by indigents who sought medical assistance from his office.
As of June 1, Beltran said he owed the hospital P688,620.
The militant legislator said he hoped the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) will grant his request for a temporary pass, saying the permanent pass from the SC would take few more days to be released.
Beltran has been detained for 15 months, 12 months of which he spent at PHC under close guard by Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) policemen.
The first three months of Beltran's incarceration was in a cramped cell in Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera said they would appeal, through a motion for reconsideration, the SC's junking of the rebellion case against Beltran and his fellow party-list legislators, namely: Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casiño and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna; Liza Maza of Gabriela; and Rafael Mariano also of Anakpawis.
The five militant lawmakers, excluding Beltran, were called Batasan 5 because they managed to elude arrest by taking shelter at the Batasan complex in Quezon City.
Beltran, meanwhile, criticized Devanadera for saying that the SC decision will have adverse circumstances on the criminal justice system.
"Solgen Devanadera has been giving my attorneys the run-around ever since Malacañang announced a month ago that it will not contest any motion for my release. Now, all of sudden, she's visible again and in fighting form; only she's out to defend the government's immoral, illegal and unjust right to prosecute and incarcerate the innocent. Solgen Devanedera should refrain from sounding high and mighty as if she's genuinely defending the criminal justice system," said Beltran.
"By contesting the Supreme Court decision that declared us victims of the government's campaign of political persecution, she is actually being a party to the potential imposition of more injustice and political repression," he said.
Beltran said: "It is the Department of Justice and Malacañang itself who flaunted criminal law and procedure when they went after us in February 2006 and had me arrested and detained on the strength of a two-decade old warrant and bogus testimonies. Solgen Devanadera is barking up the wrong tree when she accuses the SC on this issue." (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (June 4, 2007 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
