/ GOVT: A TRIUMPH OF JUSTICE
MANILA,
NOVEMBER 19, 2011 (STAR)
By Paolo Romero (Photo - Militant groups hold a rally denouncing the Supreme
Court ruling on the travel ban on former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
yesterday. EDD GUMBAN)
Former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo expressed surprise
yesterday over the issuance of a warrant of arrest for his wife, former
President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
"That (warrant of arrest) can't be. Our lawyers just filed an urgent motion
questioning the jurisdiction (of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court) and that's
the first thing that should be hurdled first," Arroyo told The STAR shortly
after learning that the warrant had been issued.
"That's really funny," he remarked.
The couple cancelled their booking for a Singapore Airlines flight (SQ916) at
5:15 p.m. shortly after the warrant was issued.
House Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman expressed disappointment
over the issuance of the arrest warrant against his colleague in the opposition
bloc.
Lagman said the filing of the charges and the issuance of a warrant of arrest
on the same day was part of the game plan to prevent Mrs. Arroyo from leaving
the country.
"That (issuance of warrant) is a precipitated action and the bullet train
ruling seems to be part of the game plan to prevent Mrs. Arroyo from seeking
medical treatment abroad. We are very disappointed," Lagman said.
Earlier in the day, Arroyo and lawyers said the electoral sabotage charges
filed against the former president were "fabricated" and "railroaded."
They said the filing of the charges was obviously meant to prevent her from
leaving the country to seek medical treatment abroad.
"This is a sad day for due process. The Comelec (Commission on Elections)
voted on a resolution that was railroaded. The Comelec also railroaded its own
resolution," Arroyo said.
He noted Comelec Commissioner Armando Velasco did not vote since he did not
have any time to read the resolution.
"That means that the Comelec voted to charge GMA (Mrs. Arroyo) with electoral
sabotage even without reading the joint panel resolution. That strikes me as a
docile Comelec to the Department of Justice (DOJ)," he said.
Arroyo said the DOJ-Comelec joint panel investigating the allegations had
disregarded the statement of former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.
denying the testimony of former provincial poll official Norie Unas, whose
affidavit was the sole basis of the charge.
"It (allegation) was categorically denied. So where is the electoral
sabotage? They are following the orders of P-Noy (President Aquino) to file
cases versus GMA even without basis and by fast train too," Arroyo said.
Mrs. Arroyo's legal spokesman, Raul Lambino, said Ampatuan virtually called
Unas a liar yet the joint panel disregarded his testimony.
Mrs. Arroyo's lawyer, Christian Diaz, said the filing was not only meant to
stop her from leaving, but it was also aimed to render inutile the temporary
restraining order issued by the Supreme Court on the watchlist order of the DOJ.
Lambino questioned the jurisdiction of the Pasay RTC over Arroyo.
He said the charges should be have been filed before the Ombudsman and the
Sandiganbayan, taking into consideration that Arroyo is a government official.
Ferdinand Topacio, legal counsel for Arroyo, said that even before the
warrant was issued, it would be impossible for the judge to read the charge in
two days.
He said the judge would have to be a "superman" to be able to read the entire
document filed by the DOJ-Comelec panel.
Gov't: A triumph of justice By Alexis Romero
(The Philippine Star) Updated November 19, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (13)
[Justice
Secretary Leila de Lima said former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her
husband did not answer the charges against them.]
MANILA, Philippines - The Pasay City Regional Trial Court's order for the
arrest of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is "a triumph of justice,"
the government said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters at Malacañang, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said
President Aquino, who is in Bali, Indonesia for the 19th Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, ordered her to ensure that Arroyo would
be treated "with utmost respect" upon her arrest.
"This is a real triumph for justice and accountability," she said. "We want
her (Arroyo) to be here within the reach of the court system."
De Lima said out of courtesy to the former president, they immediately
informed her camp that a warrant of arrest had been issued against her.
"I consulted with the President on what I should do and the guidance I got
from him is to treat the former president with utmost respect in consideration
of whatever condition she has while in hospital," she said.
De Lima said Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo had called up Arroyo's son
Camarines Sur Rep. Dato Arroyo to inform him about the development.
"Secretary Jesse Robredo called Congressman Dato Arroyo to inform them that
we secured a warrant of arrest," she said.
"Please inform your parents and your family so you can discuss and consider
staying in the hospital."
De Lima said they would not oppose proposals to place Arroyo under house or
hospital arrest as long as she stays in the country.
"We will not object to a hospital arrest, although the decision on where to
confine (Arroyo) does not lie with us or the complainant, which in this case is
the Comelec (Commission on Elections)," she said. "It's up to the court."
Arroyo's camp should secure court approval to place her under hospital or
house arrest, she added.
De Lima said Arroyo would have to undergo the usual processes including the
taking of mug shots, she added.
"It (taking of mug shots) should be SOP (standard operating procedures)," she
said. "There should be a process when effecting an arrest.
"Dapat dumaan sa proseso (The process should be followed) although this could
be done in the hospital or her (Arroyo) house instead of bringing her to the
detention facility or police station."
De Lima said Arroyo could be placed in an "appropriate detention facility" if
she insists on leaving the country.
"For as long as she stays in the hospital or at home, we will not insist on
bringing her to any detention facility," she said.
"The moment she tries to leave the country, law enforcers will be constrained
to arrest her and put her in an appropriate detention facility.
"The arresting officers will have no choice but effect the arrest and treat
her like any other accused with respect to her rights as accused if they show
resistance. But we do hope this would not happen."
De Lima said the court's decision rendered moot the temporary restraining
order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court.
"In light of recent developments, the issues surrounding the TRO have become
moot and academic, thus Mrs. Arroyo is compelled to stay in country, bringing us
closer to uncovering the truth surrounding the 2007 elections," she said.
"Rest assured the government will exercise fairness and impartiality and
uphold every right that Mrs. Arroyo is entitled to under the Constitution."
De Lima said she could not say what would happen to former first gentleman
Mike Arroyo, who has been absolved by the joint Comelec-Department of Justice
(DOJ) body that probed the 2007 poll fraud.
"I want to be sure of facts before I tell the exact situation when it comes
to the first gentleman," she said.
De Lima said she is ready to explain to the Supreme Court why she should not
be held in contempt for implementing the watchlist order despite the TRO.
"As I've been saying, I don't think there is defiance on my part," she said.
"The filing of motion for reconsideration is part of the process. The TRO should
not have been issued."
De Lima said the TRO cannot be enforced since Arroyo's camp has not complied
with all the conditions the SC has set.
"The best argument now, just like I stated earlier, is there was nothing to
defy," she said.
Nothing to do
Meanwhile, Malacañang said it has nothing to do with the decision of the
Comelec to file electoral sabotage charges against Arroyo.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Comelec officials were the ones
who deliberated on the case.
"For the record, there is none (involvement of Malacañang in the filing of
case)," he said. "The Comelec made the decision, not us."
He brushed aside talk that Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes was forced to
leave the hospital to sign the resolution recommending the filing of poll
sabotage charges in court.
"I did not know that Chairman Brillantes was in the hospital," he said. "I
believe Chairman Brillantes already answered that."
The Comelec filed electoral sabotage charges against Arroyo yesterday, amid a
controversy created by the government's refusal to allow her to leave the
country to seek medical treatment.
The case was filed a few hours after the poll body voted 5-2 to adopt a
resolution calling for the filing of electoral sabotage charges against Arroyo.
Voting for the filing of charges against Arroyo were Brillantes,
commissioners Augusto Lagman, Elias Yusoph, Rene Sarmiento and Christian Robert
Lim.
Commissioners Lucenito Tagle and Armando Velasco inhibited from voting.
De Lima claimed there is nothing extraordinary with the immediate filing of
the case against Arroyo.
"There is nothing unusual if on the same day a criminal information is filed
and the judge immediately issues a warrant of arrest," she said.
"If he (judge) reviews the records that were submitted to him, including the
information, and he believes there is probable cause, there is nothing unusual
about that."
De Lima also belied the accusations of Arroyo's lawyers that they were not
given due process.
The joint Comelec-DOJ committee tasked to probe the alleged 2007 poll fraud
had given Arroyo's camp the chance to answer the allegations, she added.
Mike Arroyo has asked the SC to void an order creating the joint DOJ-Comelec
panel.
The creation of the body could compromise the independence of Comelec, he
added.
Cooperation vs corruption
In Bali, Indonesia, the leaders of the ASEAN have agreed to intensify
cooperation to "combat corruption in the area of asset recovery and in denying
safe haven to those found guilty of public corruption."
Such provision in the Bali Declaration on ASEAN Community in a Global
Community of Nations becomes significant to the Philippines as the
administration tries to stop Arroyo from leaving the Philippines to allegedly
evade electoral sabotage, corruption and other charges against her.
The ASEAN leaders are meeting in Bali for a summit among themselves and their
dialogue partners.
The asset recovery and denial of safe haven to the corrupt will be done "in
the framework of the applicable national and international laws."
Presidential Communications Development Secretary Ricky Carandang refused to
comment on the recent developments in Arroyo's case.
However, he denied any effort to railroad the electoral sabotage charges
against her to stop her from leaving the Philippines.
Carandang added there was no script at all being followed by the
administration as claimed by the Arroyo camp.
"What script?" he asked. "I'm not aware that there's any script. I'm not
going to comment on speculation by the Arroyo camp about what we are or are not
doing or what we do intend or what we don't intend to do."
The Comelec had its investigation and "they will do what they need to do
based on their appreciation of the evidence," he added.
Asked to comment on the Arroyo camp's claim that the case against Arroyo was
being railroaded, Carandang said: "Well, they said a lot of things in the last
few days and not all of them are true. So I don't know what do you want me to
say to that."
It would be up to the legal team to decide what legal remedies were available
to the government as the SC upheld the TRO on the watchlist order against
Arroyo, he added.
Carandang said Malacañang continued to stand by Secretary De Lima.
"I'm not going to tell you what the strategy is now because I'm not exactly
sure what we're going to do at this point," he said.
"I have not discussed it with Secretary De Lima or anyone on the legal team
so I'm not going to speculate on that at this point. I'm not qualified right now
to answer that question."
"I'll go by whatever the President (Aquino) decides to do."
Carandang also said the developments in Manila were not distracting Aquino.
"The President remains fully engaged in the meetings that he has had," he
said. "The meetings and the engagements had been very candid and very
fruitful... The (regional) issues are being discussed, they're being engaged –
it's not a distraction.
"Of course, the President is being updated constantly and he's talking to the
legal advisers. But, as you can see, the business of summitry goes on and
continues uninterrupted."– With Aurea Calica
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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