Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Saturday questioned what he described as a recurring pattern of prominent personalities being hospitalized after arrest warrants are issued or contempt orders are imposed.
Lacson cited former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan and Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, who are facing plunder and graft charges before the Sandiganbayan and are confined at the Philippine National Police General Hospital.
“Since time immemorial, when a prominent personality is cited in contempt or faces arrest, he/she suddenly gets sick and needs to be hospitalized. Bonoan was arrested and confined in the hospital. Before that, we have seen big personalities who are confined in the hospital instead of being brought to jail. This is the pattern I have noticed,” Lacson said in English and Filipino during an interview on DZMM radio.
He said ordinary Filipinos had also raised the issue with him, prompting a July 8 post on X.
“WARNING: Bawal magkasakit. Mahal ang gamot. Bawal magka-‘warrant’. Baka magkasakit,” Lacson wrote.
“When the arrest warrant comes out, so does the medical condition—you name it—pneumonia, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels. Some require neck braces, others have back pains. The diseases come out when the arrest warrant comes out,” he added.
Lacson also questioned whether taxpayers are shouldering the hospitalization and medication costs of Bonoan and Marcoleta.
He said the PNP General Hospital is primarily intended for police personnel and their dependents, some of whom have reportedly been denied admission despite being entitled to its services.
“One issue is that the PNP-GH has its own budget, funded by taxpayers. Those authorized to be confined there are PNP members or their dependents. But who shoulders the costs for the stay and medication of Bonoan and Marcoleta? As far as I know, neither of them is PNP dependent,” Lacson said.
“There are PNP members who are denied admission at the PNP-GH. There are also times when its facilities admit those who are not PNP members or dependents. Who pays for their stay?” he added.
Lacson, who served as PNP chief from 1999 to 2001, said he would raise the issue during deliberations on the proposed 2027 budgets of the PNP and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
“I intend to raise this when the budget deliberations for the PNP and DILG for 2027 start. I will ask who is authorized to be confined there and who shoulders the expenses for the PNP-GH when non-dependents are confined there,” he said.
He recalled that the late former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile was also confined at the PNP General Hospital while facing charges linked to the pork barrel scam.
Lacson noted, however, that Enrile had served as defense secretary and that the PNP’s predecessor, the Philippine Constabulary, was previously under the defense establishment.