PNP defends visits to detained senator amid court scrutiny

The Philippine National Police on Friday, July 10, defended its decision to allow two high-profile visitors to see detained Senator Rodante Marcoleta at a police hospital, following pointed questions from an anti-graft court about the visits given the senator's medical condition. Police officials stated the visits by Vice President Sara Duterte and Senator Robin Padilla were granted solely because they were personal requests from Marcoleta and his family.

The scrutiny came during a hearing before the Sandiganbayan's Third Division, where Associate Justice Ronald Moreno questioned why the visits were permitted. The court heard testimony that Marcoleta, who has been under hospital detention at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame, Quezon City, since his arrest on July 6, is being treated for pneumonia and had been advised to undergo isolation. Police Lt. Col. Benaly Bayani, chief of the hospital's Internal Medicine Department, described the illness as communicable.

In response, Police Col. John Guiagui, director of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for the National Capital Region, explained that access to the senator was tightly controlled and the visits...