Archibald Jose T.

Manansala
CEU School of Law and Jurisprudence

Concept of House and Hospital Arrest and Applicability in the Philippines

What does the terms house arrest and hospital arrest mean?

House arrest means a person convicted or accused of crime is ordered by a court to remain in
their house for a period of time to be determined by a judge.1

An example of a person placed under house arrest is former President and current Mayor of
Manila Joseph Ejercito Estrada. He was placed under house arrest for six (6) years while he was
being tried for the plunder case in the Sandiganbayan. The said plunder case stemmed from the
charges that Mr. Estrada received kickbacks from tobacco taxes, commissions from the purchase
of shares by a government insurance fund and payoffs from illegal gambling operations through
a bank account under the name of Jose Velarde, amounting to billions of pesos.2

There are laws in the Philippines that allow house arrest for people accused of crimes. Under the
Revised Penal Code, if the defendant was penalized with (sentence of) arresto menor, he/she is
allowed to serve his/her sentence in the municipal jail or in his/her house under surveillance of
an officer of law, taking into consideration health and other factors, upon the decision of (trial)
court.3 Also, under the Human Security Act of 2007, a person charged of terrorism or conspiracy
to commit terrorism may be placed under house arrest through a court order in his/her usual
place of residence. While under house arrest, the accused are not allowed to communicate with
people outside of his/her residence through telecommunication (telephone and mobile phone),
computers (electronic mail/e-mail, Internet), etc. unless (allowed) with order of the court.4

However, under the present Rules of Criminal Procedure that governs proceedings of criminal
cases in the country, there is no provision that states the concept of house arrest. 5 The said Rules
state that the arresting officer/person has to deliver the accused to the nearest police station or
jail, both for warrantless arrests and arrests by virtue of an arrest warrant.6

1 House Arrest, Wex Legal Dictionary and Encyclopedia,

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/house_arrest. (last seen and accessed at 12:14 a.m. of 3 May
2016)

2 Imelda Albano, In a Landmark Case, Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada Gets Life in
Prison on Corruption Charges. The WIP website, http://thewip.net/2007/09/17/in-a-landmark-
case-former-philippine-president-joseph-estrada-gets-life-in-prison-on-corruption-charges/ (last
seen and accessed at 12:37 a.m. of 3 May 2016)

3 Act 3815 (Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, referred afterwards as RPC), Article 88.

4 Rep. Act 9372, Section 26 (Restriction on Travel).

 Archibald Jose T. Manansala
CEU School of Law and Jurisprudence

Meanwhile, hospital arrest differs from house arrest when an accused is allowed by the court to
remain in a hospital while the case is being heard by court. An example of this would be the case
of former President and Congresswoman Gloria Arroyo, who currently remains under hospital
arrest at Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMCC) while she is being tried for a plunder case
due to misuse of PCSO funds during her presidency. She was denied bail because the evidence of
guilt against her was strong.7

In the Philippines, there are only few laws regarding house and hospital arrest, two of them are
provisions cited earlier under the Human Security Act of 2007 and Revised Penal Code. As a
result of such insufficiency, the daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senator Nancy Binay,
proposed Senate Bill 2398, which allows alternative forms of detention aside from the ones in
prison.8 The said bill proposes that the courts may order a person to be confined to hospital or
house arrest to the place where such detainee is presently confined, provided he/she is
accompanied by a police officer at all times.9

5 2000 Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure (referred afterwards as Revised Rules of Criminal
Procedure), Rule 113. In sections 1-2 of the said Rule, arrest is defined when a person is taken
into legal custody to answer for a commission of an offense, and the arrest is made when he/she
is actually restrained or submits to the custody of the person/officer making the arrest.

6 Ibid, sections 3 and 5.

7 Arroyo to remain under hospital arrest at VMMC, Manila Times website,

http://www.manilatimes.net/arroyo-to-remain-under-hospital-arrest-at-vmmc/221766/ (last seen
and accessed at 6:32 p.m. of 3 May 2016)

8 Senator Nancy Binay, Senate Bill 2398 (An Act Allowing House Arrest Or Confinement In
Places Other Than Regular Detention Facility For Detention Prisoners)
http://www.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/1982816936!.pdf (last seen and accessed at 6:40 p.m. of 3 May
2016)

9 Ibid. Section 3.