The Sandiganbayan has rejected a request from a former mayor in Pampanga province to be placed under hospital or house arrest.
To recall, the former official — identified as ex-Masantol town Mayor Corazon Lacap — was convicted of graft for intentionally refusing to issue a business permit to a trader who had sued her and her husband.
Lacap cited her advanced age and claimed she needed eye surgery as reasons for her plea.
She also asked the court for “humanitarian considerations” to temporarily suspend her sentence, presenting diagnoses of pseudophakia in her right eye and a senile nuclear cataract in her left eye, the latter requiring a routine procedure.
Relying on the case of former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who was granted bail in a plunder case due to his poor health and old age, Lacap argued she should receive the same treatment.
She also submitted a medical certificate indicating diagnoses of coronary artery disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and osteoporosis, which she claimed exacerbated her need for medical attention.
Previously, the Sandiganbayan found Lacap guilty in February 2011 of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019).
The case stemmed from her refusal to issue a business permit in 1999 and 2000 to Fermina Santos, who owned a variety store in Masantol. The court determined Lacap’s denial was motivated by personal and political conflicts arising from Santos’ lawsuit against her and her husband.
In its decision denying Lacap’s petition, the Sandiganbayan stated that Enrile’s case was not applicable. The court pointed out that Enrile was granted provisional liberty before a final judgment was reached, whereas Lacap’s conviction has already been finalized and is now being implemented.