Cause and effect

By Ninez Cacho-Olivares

It has to happen whenever one tries to defend the indefensible, and Leila de Lima, who probably thought she could outwit the High Court justices, ended up like a wet rag as she tried to defend her defiance of the Supreme Court’s (SC) temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping her from barring the Arroyos from leaving the country. She certainly looked like a first day freshman law student as she couldn’t even cite a law that empowers her to issue a hold departure order (HDO) against a private citizen who has not even been charged.

Naturally, she refuses to admit that she defied the TRO, although it was clear that she did, and deliberately too, even going to the extent of intimating that the state’s police power is superior to the power of the judiciary to stop anyone the administration wants barred from leaving the country despite no charges having been filed against the persons, in this instance, the Arroyo couple.

There was no law that De Lima could cite giving her that power to issue a HDO against a private person’s right to travel, more so when that private person has not even been charged with a crime, which translated, means that the executive branch not only usurps the power of the courts to issue an HDO but also vests itself with any and all power to do as it wants, whether or not a law exists granting the executive such powers.

There was no way for De Lima to get out of her having defied the High Court’s order and there should also be no way for the court not to even punish her for her act, because if the court doesn’t, what is likely to happen is that not only she, but the entire Noynoy officials will keep on usurping for itself more powers belonging to the judiciary and also the legislature, which would prove very dangerous to democracy.

The issue of course is whether the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) issuances of the watch list order, which is really an HDO, is constitutional, and clearly it is not, as no law grants the DoJ to issue an HDO.

In truth, De Lima’s HDO strips a private person’s right to travel, which is a constitutional right. It is worse because her HDO does away with the presumption of innocence, and banks on speculation of one’s fleeing the country, which she has failed to prove. Worst, her HDO bars a person who is not even facing charges in any court at the time of departure. Even the courts issue HDOs only after its having jurisdiction over the accused.

Yet that was the defense of De Lima. She said she had to stop Gloria from leaving the country because of her belief that Gloria was leaving to evade being charged and that once allowed to leave, she can no longer be made accountable for her alleged crimes.

In other words, she has the right and the power to stop any person she wants arrested, charged and detained — despite the absence of any case filed by the government against that person.

She can hardly deny that there was no existing case against Gloria and her husband when she barred the couple from leaving the country, armed with a TRO against De Lima’s watch list order.

Neither can De Lima deny credibly that her panel was a kangaroo panel that railroaded the preliminary investigation to ensure that the poll body would also have the charges against Gloria ready to get her arrested and detained.

Noynoy and De Lima appear to have control even over a supposed independent and constitutional body that is the Comelec as well as the Pasay City Regional Trial Court to do as Noynoy wants — which he has publicly admitted that he will have Gloria convicted.

It has become very clear that Noynoy and his aides have no intention of obeying any law as decreed by the High Court that goes against what Noynoy says should be the law.

Even if the high court declares unconstitutional the DoJ’s HDO, it is almost certain that Noynoy and his aides will dream up of another power they will be usurping from both the legislature and the judiciary.

We really have a damaged democracy under Noynoy.