Imelda may still avoid jail term – solon

At 89, former First Lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda RomualdezMarcos may be able to avoid the stiff prison term imposed on her by the Sandiganbayan.

Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. RodelBatocabe said lawyers of Marcos may cite humanitarian considerations in seeking exemption from the maximum 77 years imprisonment the Sandiganbayan had imposed on her following conviction on seven counts of graft.

“I think Madam Marcos should interpose the ground of humanitarian considerations due to her advance age and frail health to avoid imprisonment,” Batocabe said.

Deputy Speaker and Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro and 1Ang Edukasyon Rep. Salvador Belaro said Marcos may continue serving as House member notwithstanding Sandiganbayan’s ruling.

“Only final and executory judgment from the courts can stop her from serving her term as congresswoman as this is based on acts outside of being a legislator,” said Belaro.

In a press statement Friday, the former First Lady said her lawyer, Manuel Lazaro, “intends to file Motion for Reconsideration” seeking a reversal of the anti-graft court’s ruling.

Marcos said Lazaro has started studying the decision and has advised her that “he intends to file a Motion for Reconsideration.”

The veteran lawyer will temporarily take over lawyer Robert Sison, Marcos’s attorney-on-record, who cannot attend to the case because of medical confinement at the Asian Hospital.