Philippine President Gloria Arroyo yesterday offered to build a special detention facility for her jailed predecessor Joseph Estrada inside the sprawling compound of a military hospital in the capital.
Arroyo said the facility would be an annex building at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in suburban Manila, where Estrada has been confined since he was rushed there on May 12 after complaining of chest pains.
"It will be like a small compound with a house and a reception cottage," she said in a radio interview.
Arroyo said she made the offer when she visited Estrada on Saturday, during which she told the former president that she has no objections to placing him under house arrest.
Estrada has been in detention since April 25 to face trial for the charge of plunder or theft of public funds in excess of US$1 million, a non-bailable offense punishable by death.
Before his transfer to the center, he was detained at a two-bedroom bungalow in a police training school in Santa Rosa, Laguna Province, just south of Manila.
"I visited [Estrada] because I received a report that he suffered a bout of depression when he learned that he may soon return to Santa Rosa," Arroyo said.
"If that is the case, then he will again get sick. So I said it would be better if he stays at the Veterans," she said. "In the meantime, so he will be comfortable, we will build an annex facility that is fitting of a former president."
Arroyo said Estrada stressed his desire to be placed under house arrest, adding, "He even told me that he wants to help my government but he will be more helpful if he was under house arrest."
While her administration does not object to Estrada's request, Arroyo noted that the final decision will have to come from the anti-graft court which is handling the plunder case against the former president.
Arroyo's visit came five days after the hotly contested elections billed as a proxy fight between her and Estrada.
Presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said both Arroyo and Estrada congratulated each other for their candidates' performance in the May 14 polls.
Tiglao said Arroyo singled out Estrada's wife, Luisa Ejercito, whose strong showing came as a surprise to many.
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