[Pinoy Criminology] Like Martin Romualdez, can ordinary accused avail themselves of hospital arrest?

Former House speaker Martin Romualdez was arrested for plunder but was already hospitalized due to a cardiovascular event when the warrant was served. The author argues that while Romualdez deserves medical attention, the same consideration should be extended to all accused individuals, particularly those who are poor and suffering from serious medical conditions in jails. The piece calls for legislative reforms to ensure equal humanitarian treatment for all detainees, regardless of their financial status or political connections, emphasizing that justice should not be a privilege. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. I cannot help but comment on the arrest of former House speaker Martin Romualdez. He was arrested for plunder involving allegations of billions of pesos in kickbacks. When the warrant was served, however, he was already confined at Cardinal Santos Medical Center after allegedly experiencing a cardiovascular event, and his lawyers subsequently asked the Sandiganbayan to allow his continued hospital confinement. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. If Romualdez truly has a medical condition, then he deserves to be medically attended to. He is not yet convicted guilty, and preventive detention should not be punishment, much less medical deprivation that could lead to death. The problem is not that Romualdez is receiving medical attention. The problem is whether the same consideration is available to everyone else. Because, right now, how many old, sickly, and terminally ill accused are languishing in our jails, undergoing trial for offenses far less serious than plunder? (READ: [Pinoy Criminology] Protecting the old and sickly from prolonged pre-trial detention)Some have been there not for one month but for years, with no end in sight. Some suffer from diabetes, hypertension, cancer, tuberculosis, heart disease, and other debilitating illnesses. They are also presumed innocent, except that poverty seems to make that presumption considerably less comfortable. Where is their hospital detention? Where is their humanitarian consideration? Where is the urgent medical attention when the person asking for it has no money, no powerful lawyers, and no famous surname? We have been pushing for medical and humanitarian release for individuals with serious medical conditions. They can be supervised, required to report regularly, prohibited from traveling, and monitored by authorities. They can also be returned to detention when they violate the conditions of their release. Medical considerations, however, have appeared selectively available to the rich and powerful. We saw humanitarian considerations invoked in the case of Juan Ponce Enrile, when the Supreme Court considered his advanced age, health, and flight risk in granting bail (Enrile v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. No. 213847, August 18, 2015). We have likewise seen former presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo receive special detention or medical arrangements. The answer is not to deny these accommodations to powerful people simply because poor people suffer in jail. The answer is to make humanitarian consideration available to poor people under the same objective standards. Humanity should not become a privilege that depends upon one’s bank account, political position, or surname. That is where risk assessment becomes important. A rational criminal justice system should not merely ask what crime an accused allegedly committed. It should also ask whether the person poses a flight risk, threatens witnesses, presents a danger to the community, or can be safely supervised outside jail. Congress should therefore pass a law expanding alternatives to pretrial detention, including medical recognizance and humanitarian release based on medical need and criminogenic risk assessment. The Supreme Court should likewise promulgate clear rules governing medical release for pretrial detainees. Who can avail, what are the criteria, what are the procedures, how can they be applied equally, and how can abuse be avoided? The placement of Romualdez under hospital confinement may be entirely appropriate. He may truly have a heart condition, and if he does, let him receive the treatment he needs while remaining accountable to the courts. But whatever criteria apply to Romualdez should also apply to thousands of poor Filipinos now languishing in overcrowded jails nationwide. Not automatically, and certainly not indiscriminately, but rationally, transparently, and equally. If humanitarian justice is good enough for the powerful, it should be good enough for the poor. That is not special treatment; that is equal treatment. – Rappler.com Raymund E. Narag, PhD, is an associate professor in criminology and criminal justice at the School of Justice and Public Safety, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. The author originally posted this to Facebook on September 8, 2026. How does this make you feel? Loading