BAN / NOY DELAYS BALI TRIP TO ATTEND TRAVEL BAN ISSUE
MANILA, NOVEMBER 18,
2011 (STAR) By Edu Punay - Government lawyers asked the
Supreme Court yesterday to lift its temporary restraining order (TRO) on the
travel ban on Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel even as
the justice department remained firm in barring the former first couple from
leaving the country.
On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, saying she had not received the
TRO, directed immigration authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport
(NAIA) to stop Arroyo and her entourage from boarding a plane bound for
Singapore.
De Lima wanted to keep the Arroyos in the country to make them stand trial
for electoral fraud and plunder. She said on Tuesday she could not implement the
TRO without an official copy of the SC order.
"My directive stays," she told reporters yesterday in an ambush interview
after being given an official copy of the TRO at 8:30 am.
Chief Justice Renato Corona, meanwhile, called for a special full court
session tomorrow at 11 a.m. to resolve a motion of the Arroyo camp for the
rescheduling of oral arguments on a petition contesting the constitutionality of
the watchlist order.
The Arroyos had petitioned for a TRO on their inclusion in the DOJ watchlist,
citing their constitutional right to travel in the absence of formal charges
against them in court.
"It is our view that the TRO clearly has rendered moot and academic the main
petition. It's basic principle that you are not supposed to enjoin something if
it renders moot the main petition. The TRO, in effect, bars the WLO (watchlist
order) and effectively declares it unconstitutional," she stressed.
"The issuance of the TRO would allow the travel of petitioners abroad, thus
effectively putting them beyond the jurisdiction of the Philippine justice
system to which they are subjected as respondents in the non-bailable offenses
of plunder and electoral sabotage," she said.
"With the travel of petitioners abroad, the Philippine state is rendered
powerless from compelling them to answer to the criminal complaints and charges
against them, and which are already pending disposition at the preliminary
investigation stage," she added. "The great and irreparable injury to the
Philippine state of allowing petitioners to evade Philippine criminal
jurisdiction over their persons cannot be understated."
SC warning
The SC, meanwhile, reiterated its warning of legal sanction against D Lima.
"If there's intentional violation of or non-obedience of a lawful order from
the court, that is considered indirect contempt of court," SC spokesman Midas
Marquez told reporters.
He explained that the high court may issue an order requiring the DOJ to
explain its defiance motu propio or in response to a motion from the Arroyos.
"We will ask Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and the department officials why
they did not comply with the order," Marquez said.
Citing sections 3, 7 and 8 of Rule 71 of the Rules of Court, the SC official
also warned that De Lima and Bureau of Immigration officials may face
imprisonment of up to six months and a fine of P30,000 or both.
"I don't want to preempt what the court will do, but definitely due process
will be observed," he said.
Marquez reiterated that the TRO would be in effect for an indefinite period
or until lifted by the court.
He rebuffed De Lima's argument that the TRO should not be enforced until a
decision on the motion for reconsideration is issued.
"Where did she get that? Can you show me jurisprudence on that? Mere filing
of MR will not stay execution of TRO. How can the effectivity or enforcement of
the decision of the court depend on the. action or inaction of a party? It
cannot. Otherwise we will be at the mercy of these parties. That cannot be," the
SC official pointed out. He stressed that the magistrates had already debunked
such argument.
"The majority opinion should prevail, and that's always the case. A
dissenting opinion is a minority opinion," he said.
At Malacañang, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the "premature"
issuance of a TRO has denied them due process. "Our position is that the motion
for reconsideration is part of the process and the process requires us the
opportunity to be heard. It does not make the TRO immediately executory,"
Lacierda said in an ambush interview.
Earlier oral argument
With their chances of getting reprieve from the DOJ slim, Rep. Arroyo asked
the high court to set the oral arguments on her petition on Nov.18, 19, or 21
instead of the original Nov. 22 schedule.
Through lawyer Estelito Mendoza, Mrs. Arroyo said she needed to immediately
seek treatment abroad.
She cited the incident Tuesday night where she was barred from leaving the
country despite the SC issuance of a TRO. Mendoza also asked the SC to invite De
Lima to attend the oral argument.
".Petitioner reserves any appropriate remedy which she might have in light of
the incident of November 15, 2011, at which respondent Secretary Justice
prohibited her from leaving the court," Mendoza said.
In allowing the Arroyos to travel aboard to seek treatment of the former
president's rare bone disorder, the high court has required them to post a cash
bond of P2 million and to appoint a lawyer who will receive subpoenas and other
legal documents related to the ongoing investigation into allegations against
them.
SC threat shrugged off
BI Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said he is unfazed by SC's threat of legal
sanction and claimed he is even willing to join his men in jail if cited in
contempt.
"I would join them (BI employees) because this is an order of the justice
secretary that was given to me, which I only gave to the supervisor and
immigration officers. So we are all in the same boat. If there would be an order
that we would be imprisoned for a few months, I will join them. I sympathize
with the IOs because they were just doing their job," David said.
He said the Arroyo lawyers should have presented a copy of the TRO to the DOJ
directly and not to the immigration people at the NAIA.
"We are just doing our job. This is the instruction of our superiors, which
we believe is a lawful order."
Yesterday, he issued a memorandum informing all immigration officers and
personnel at the NAIA that the DOJ directive remains in effect.
In compliance with the DOJ order, David said the BI will "continue preserving
the status quo by exhausting all actions to implement the watchlist orders
against the Arroyo spouses and to report any attempt by the Arroyo couple to
board any commercial or chartered flight to whatever destination outside of the
Philippines. Needless to say, they are to be denied boarding in such flights,
citing the WLO and this memorandum as bases for such refusal."
He also discouraged the Arroyos from making another attempt to board an
airplane at the NAIA. He said the airlines wouldn't allow them anyway to board
their aircraft.
"If the former president is sick, it would be very strenuous for her to go to
the airport only to find out that she would not be allowed because the IO would
not place its stamp of approval on her passport. She should not tire herself,"
said the BI chief.
The immigration officers took Rep. Arroyo's passport and turned it over to a
superior. "I told them (BI personnel) that they should respect the former
president and to treat her with utmost courtesy but not to stamp her passport,"
David said. There were four people in the Arroyo entourage.
BI spokesperson Ma. Antonette Bucasas-Mangrobang said the former President
and her husband should have followed the example of their eldest son Ang Galing
party-list Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo who was granted an allowed departure
order or ADO by a Quezon City court hearing his tax evasion case.
It was the DOJ, after receiving the Quezon City court order, that instructed
the BI to allow the younger Arroyo to travel to the US.
"This is good because in this case the procedure was followed unlike last
Tuesday, they were trying to serve it directly to the Immigration which is not
the procedure and our personnel is not authorized or to even look at any court
order," said Mangrobang.
OFWs slam SC
An alliance of Filipino workers, for its part, slammed the SC for allowing
the Arroyos to travel abroad.
John Leonard Monterona, Migrante Middle East regional coordinator, said the
former president should also be "offloaded" and be barred from leaving the
country.
"If some our fellow OFWs and would-be OFWs whose only purpose in going abroad
is to earn a living were 'offloaded' on their flight by virtue of an immigration
anti-trafficking policy, why then the Arroyos who will be facing cases of
plunder and election sabotage, among others, are allowed to leave the country?"
Monterona said.
Monterona said airport regulations should apply even to former leaders facing
possible criminal charges.
He, however, criticized the Aquino government for failing to immediate file
criminal charges against the Arroyos.
Militant labor groups, on the one hand, staged protest action outside the SC
building yesterday to dramatize their displeasure over the TRO issuance.
"The Pinoy Bonnie and Clyde should not be allowed to escape from facing cases
of stealing, cheating and lying. They will not get any sympathy from oppressed
workers in their attempt to fly out of the country and out of reach of justice,"
members of the Partido ng Manggagawa said in a statement.
But in Davao City, Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte voiced opposition to De Lima's
barring the Arroyos from traveling abroad. He said it's the Arroyos' right to
travel and seek medical treatment abroad for her ailment.
Meanwhile, Spain's top diplomat in the Philippines neither confirmed nor
denied accepting visa application from the Arroyos.
"We are not allowed to publicize or use any information of the applicant
under Spanish law," ambassador Jorge Domecq said. "Under Spanish law, I'm not
entitled to comment on it and the status of an application or whether visa was
issued. That is not allowed," Domecq said. with Pia
Lee-Brago, Alexis Romero, Rudy Santos, Edith Regalado, Mayen Jaymalin, and
Evelyn Macairan
Noy delays Bali trip to attend to GMA travel ban issue
By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated November 17, 2011 12:00
AM Comments (5)
BALI – President Aquino will be arriving here today, a few hours delayed of
his original schedule since he had to attend to the issue involving former
President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Aquino was set to be here late last night and join this morning's opening
ceremony for the 19th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit at
the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center and a bilateral meeting with Thai Prime
Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office
Secretary Ricky Carandang said Aquino would be here in the afternoon as he would
leave Manila at 8 a.m. Carandang said they were trying to reschedule the meeting
between Aquino and the Thai leader.
"The President will miss the opening plenary but he is expected to attend the
retreat and all of the other sessions that are scheduled for him, including a
bilateral with the United States which is expected to take place on Friday
morning. Beyond that, the details of schedules are still being worked out,"
Carandang told reporters in a press briefing here.
Aquino was also set to meet with United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon
and Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong.
Aside from the "developing domestic situation" involving Arroyo, Aquino also
had to attend to visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Carandang said.
Carandang said Aquino had to attend to the issues concerning Arroyo who was
barred by the Department of Justice (DOJ) from leaving the country despite a
temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court on the watchlist
order against her.
"But, as you know, (last Tuesday) there was a bit of drama at the NAIA (Ninoy
Aquino International Airport). Former President Arroyo attempted to leave the
country despite the fact that there are pending cases against her and the
justice department had barred her from leaving, causing a bit of a stir at the
airport… so that was one of the domestic occurrences that we need to attend to,"
he said.
Carandang said "it does matter" that Aquino was present in making the
decisions on Arroyo's situation, saying that, "in the end, the decisions will
belong to the President and we are making sure that the decisions are correct
and they are executed properly."
"Now that we have been assured of that, the President is coming to Bali," he
said.
Carandang said Aquino was not necessarily distracted by the issue and he
would be fully engaged in the summit upon arrival here.
"They just needed to attend to that situation (last Tuesday) and make sure
that that had been handled properly," he said.
Carandang said Aquino was standing by the decision of Justice Secretary Leila
de Lima not to allow Arroyo to leave until the legal processes were complied
with.
"I'd like to remind you that the TRO was never actually served to the DOJ.
The only reason that we knew that there was a TRO was because of the press
conference by the court administrator. Now, as lawyers will tell you, you don't
execute an order from the Supreme Court based on press conference. You base it
on the legal document which was never served to the Department of Justice
despite the fact that the Supreme Court office and the Department of Justice
office are not very far away," Carandang said.
"I mean, you can actually walk from one office or the other. So without any
legal, physical order we would not be able to enforce anything. It's curious
that they would go and hold the press conference without actually serving the
TRO to the DOJ which is the body that was supposed to have implemented the
order," he added.
Despite threats of contempt against De Lima, Carandang said, "we think we
stand on a solid legal ground in taking the actions that we have."
Whether Arroyo can leave already will depend on what actions the DOJ decides
to take, Carandang said, as there were certain legal avenues that remained open.
"So the TRO had been served, if I understand correctly, we do have legal
remedy. We can file a motion for reconsideration or something like that – other
legal avenues can be taken. So the exact actions and the timing will be left to
the DOJ in Manila to decide," he said.
Carandang said it would be up to the DOJ to decide how it would appreciate
the SC statement that its TRO was effective immediately and allow Arroyo to
leave the country.
"What I understand normally is when there's a TRO issued, then you do have
legal recourse through motion for reconsideration or other such legal avenues.
So I don't see why that would be… we would be deprived of those remedies that
are available to anybody who's facing that kind of litigation," he said.
Carandang refused to speculate on whether there might be a constitutional
crisis because the executive branch would not impose the SC order.
"But it was curious – we found it curious. Those of us who were aware of it
found it curious that... there was a press conference (but) there was no actual
order given at the time.
The press conference was attended to first before the actual legal process,"
he said.
Carandang said the situation would not necessarily lead to a constitutional
crisis.
"I think you have one interpretation of the law from the Arroyo camp; one
interpretation of the law from the government and there are ways that this can
be resolved. So I would not call it at this point a constitutional crisis," he
said.
Carandang maintained it was not enough for the SC and the Arroyo camp to
inform the DOJ that there was a TRO only by holding a press conference..
He added they were not surprised with the decision of the SC and that they
were prepared for any contingency.
Flight risk
Carandang said they found it curious that Arroyo and her entourage had an
advance booking even before the press conference on the TRO was held.
"I won't ascribe any bad faith at this point. But it is curious because once
you receive a court order, how long does it take you to book a ticket to go
somewhere? That doesn't happen instantly. So it is a little surprising,"
Carandang said.
He also said he would not know the reason why Arroyo was rushing to leave on
Tuesday night and if she and her husband Jose Miguel were no longer planning to
return to the country.
"All I can say is this: we believe that the justifications that Mrs. Arroyo
presented to travel which were legal justifications were not valid based on our
examination of the medical abstract or consultations with the medical experts
and (Health) Secretary (Enrique) Ona's own consultation with the former
president herself."
Carandang said they also found it curious that there were a number of
different versions of the Arroyo's request to leave the country.
He said the version sent to the House of Representatives was different from
the version sent to the DOJ.
"We believe that there was some flight risk involved obviously. So we believe
that we acted in a prudent manner in this case—there was a potential for
flight," Carandang said.
He said they were prepared to do what "we believe is right and legal" and
that this was simply a situation "where we have one interpretation of the law
and the Arroyos have another interpretation."
Carandang refused to comment on claims that the Aquino administration was
giving Arroyo reason to seek political asylum in other countries.
He also debunked criticisms that the government was focused on Arroyo and not
on other important issues.
Carandang said it would again be up to the DOJ to determine whether the
conditions set by the SC before Arroyo could leave would suffice.
Carandang, however, stressed the possibility that Arroyo might no longer come
back was "a valid concern."
Carandang stressed this was not about political persecution but
"accountability."
"We were elected in part to extract accountability from public officials of
the past administration. We are simply doing what we promised to people we would
do. And I think if you look at the public opinion, it is squarely behind us," he
said.
Asked why it was taking too long for the government to file a case against
Arroyo so the court could be asked to issue a hold departure order, Carandang
said they wanted the cases to be solid "rather than cases that make a big splash
but then would be difficult to prosecute."
"We would rather take our time and file a proper case, a strong case, rather
than rush to file cases which would not prosper. So we're erring on the side of
caution," he said.
Carandang said he was not aware of the President expressing disappointment
with De Lima for the lack of cases against Arroyo before the courts.
"I think the preference and the course that we've taken is to take our time
and build a solid case as possible," he said.
Carandang said Arroyo was not being allowed to leave now because there was
already a preliminary investigation into the electoral sabotage case that she
had to face.
"So it's that portion of the process where the former president's presence is
needed. So I think it's just proper that we did what we did," he said.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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