MANILA, Philippines — On June 5, 2026, th Sandiganbayan fifth division granted a petition by former Public Works secretary Manuel Bonoan to be placed under hospital arrest, after suffering a heart attack that required him to undergo two procedures.
He is currently confined at the Philippine National Police General Hospital (PNPGH).
Below is a list of other high-profile politicians who avoided accountability for supposed medical reasons:
Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
On Nov. 18, 2011, former president and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was arrested at the St. Luke’s Medical Center at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. She had been staying at the hospital since July 2011 after being diagnosed with cervical spondylosis or cervical radiculopathy.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) filed electoral sabotage charges against her, along with former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. and former Election supervisor Lintang Bedol and on July 16, 2012, the Ombudsman filed a P366 million plunder charge against the former president, in connection with the alleged misuse of funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
She would be transferred to Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City less than a month later, and also briefly transported to St. Luke’s in Quezon City before returning to VMMC. Arroyo was known for wearing a neck brace during the period.
Arroyo would later be acquitted from her plunder charges by the Supreme Court, 11-4, on July 19, 2016, less than a month into the tenure of then president Rodrigo Duterte.
Former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile
Former senator Juan Ponce Enrile in 2014 was among three senators detained for plunder over the Priority Development Assistance Program (PDAF) scam, which involved businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, as well as the senator’s chief of staff, Gigi Reyes.
However, in 2015, the Supreme Court granted bail to Enrile, citing his advanced age and “failing health.”
Enrile served at the Senate from 1987 to 1992, then again in 1995 to 2001, and finally from 2004 to 2016, and even served as Senate President from 2008 to 2013. He would try running for the Senate again in 2019, but lost.
The former senator’s final role was serving as the chief presidential legal counsel of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., before passing away last Nov. 13, 2025 at the age of 101.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada was notorious for having three different plunder cases filed against him.
In April 2001, he and his father, former president Joseph Estrada, were both arrested and charged with plunder following the EDSA II protests that year. The younger Estrada was mayor of San Juan at the time of his arrest. They were both the first politicians charged under the country’s plunder law. Later that year, he suffered from heart problems caused by stress and was going back and forth between the VMMC and Makati Medical City. He was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan in 2007, but his father was found guilty of plunder. He was granted executive clemency by Arroyo later.
Estrada again was implicated in the 2013 PDAF scam, as he was accused of pocketing P183 million in fake projects. Between 2015 and 2016, he filed motions, citing health issues that included hypertension and chest pains to seek hospital confinement. He was granted bail in 2017, but in several instances in 2025, the Sandiganbayan denied dismissing his graft charges.
And more recently, Estrada was once more implicated in the flood control scandal, as he and fellow Sen. Joel Villanueva were named in a House of Representatives probe into the issue in September 2025.
On May 28, 2026, the Office of the Ombudsman filed multiple plunder charges against Estrada, Bonoan and several other Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, as well as multiple counts of graft and corruption, before the Sandiganbayan.
Estrada was formally arrested on June 1 and is currently detained at Quezon City Jail-Payatas.
On June 4, his lawyer, Noel Ostrea, said they would file a motion for the senator to serve under hospital arrest, noting that his client has osteoarthritis that “prevents him from personally attending the hearing of his graft case at the Sandiganbayan”.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte
In March 2025, former president Rodrigo Duterte was flown to The Hague in The Netherlands, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC) because of the war on drugs that took place throughout his administration.
During his presidency, Duterte refused to disclose his health records, after several photos of the then president showed him wearing oxygen bands.
During his trial in the ICC, Duterte’s defense lawyers argued that he was not fit to stand trial, claiming that he had “frequent episodes of falls occasioned by a loss of balance” and that his short-term memory was “impaired” because he “is not capable of remembering sufficient details for the purpose of instructing others to tamper with witnesses”.
Duterte’s first defense team, led by Nicholas Kaufman, frequently argued about the former president’s health in the confirmation of charges hearing last February. His current defense team now consists of Peter Haynes and Kate Gibson.
The ICC’s judges, however, were not convinced by the defense lawyers’ arguments and ordered his continued detention. His trial is set for Nov. 30, 2026.
Former First Lady Imelda Marcos
In 2018, former first lady Imelda Marcos, mother of the incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was convicted of graft for seven counts of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for funneling roughly $200 million and was sentenced to 77 years in prison.
However, her lawyers posted bail and would later be granted a reprieve by the Supreme Court.
Former speaker Martin Romualdez
Amid the flood control scandal dogging several politicians, former speaker Martin Romualdez was supposed to go to Singapore to seek treatment, but was issued a hold departure order. A motion was filed, but was denied by the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division.
Romualdez, along with former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, was among those implicated in receiving kickbacks from flood control projects.
