THE Sandiganbayan did not grant the prison furloughs of Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga and three former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) officials to spend Christmas in their respective homes “because they must be treated as an ordinary detention prisoners.”

In a nine-page resolution promulgated on Wednesday afternoon, the Sandiganbayan First Division saw no reason to grant the request of the lawmaker and PSCO president Sergio Valencia and board members Manuel Morato and Benigno Aguas to spend Christmas and New Year in their respective homes.

“Ordinarily, upon arrest, all the accused should have been confined in a regular jail or detention center. They should be treated as ordinary detention prisoners,” the resolution raised.

Mrs. Arroyo earlier asked the anti-graft court to allow her a prison furlough because the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), where she is presently serving hospital arrest, will not be manned during the Christmas break.

She asked for an 18-day furlough from December 20 to January 6.

Physical therapists will be asked to station in two provincial hospitals in the towns of Floridablanca and Guagua for her therapy needs while in Lubao.

“The court is not persuaded . . . [To allow Arroyo to go to Pampanga] would negate the very reason why the court allowed her to stay at the VMMC, for if she could already travel to Lubao, Pampanga and stay in her house there for [almost] three weeks, there is no more reason for her to be confined in a hospital,” the resolution said.

The justices added that they do not believe that VMMC would allow all physical therapists to go on leave as this runs counter to the “very essence of medical institution.”

They said that if Arroyo could arrange for physical therapists to be stationed in the two hospitals in Pampanga, the same arrangement could be done in the VMMC.

They added that they could not grant her prison furlough because it will manifest the court’s partiality in enforcing the law.

“To allow her [Christmas break], to the court’s mind, would be a display of partiality in her favor. The organs of the government may not show any undue favoritism or hostility to any person,” the resolution raised.

They said that Arroyo is not above any ordinary prisoner and “shall be treated alike both in rights enjoyed and responsibilities imposed.”

In asking the court a furlough, Arroyo cited the case of former President Joseph Estrada who was granted a Christmas break when he was facing plunder in 2007 also in Sandiganbayan.

The court however said that since they are not provided with the details of the resolution on Estrada’s grant for prison furlough, “they are not authorized to take judicial notice.”

They added that a ruling in one division of Sandiganbayan is not binding in other rulings in other divisions.

“Accused Arroyo’s motion lacks merit,” the court ruled.

In the same vein, the magistrates also junked the respective furloughs of Valencia, Aguas and Morato.

They said that their grounds in junking Arroyo’s motion apply to the three former PCSO officials.

“Curtailment of freedom and confinement in a detention center, prison or jail is a necessary consequence of being charged with a non-bailable offense,” they said.

Anti-graft court justices added that the three are presently undergoing bail hearing following their request for their temporary freedom.

By procedure, an accused who is charged of a non-bailable offense can only be granted temporary liberty if the bail hearing proves that the evidence against them are weak.

“Until the petitions [for bail] are resolved, the [three PCSO officials] will have to bear the consequences of their detetntion,” the resolution noted.

Morato is under hospital arrest at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. Aguas and Valencia are under the supervision of the Philippine National Police in its Custodial Center.

All are charged of plunder for allegedly conspiring the diversion of P366-million worth of lottery funds to the intelligence fund.

Associate Justices Efren de la Cruz, Rodolfo Ponferrada and Rafael Lagos issued the resolution.