EDITORIAL
By Perry Diaz
Global Balita
President Aquino and Chief Justice Corona
November 15, 2011 turned out to be a day of dramatics. First was the Supreme Court’s issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the watch list order (WLO) against former President and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. And the second was Gloria’s attempt to flee before the TRO was officially conveyed to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), which is the legal arm of the government.
In a “quick and dirty” way, the Supreme Court issued the TRO without hearing oral arguments on the Arroyos’ petitions. The TRO would result in Gloria leaving the country and stays out of the country’s jurisdiction while the charges against her are under preliminary investigation with the Department of Justice (DOJ). Should Gloria go to any of the 186 countries (e.g., Singapore, Spain, Portugal) with no extradition treaty with the Philippines, she could choose not to return if any of the charges are determined to have “probable cause” for prosecution in a court of law. And this is the compelling reason why the government should – nay, must — prevent her from leaving the country.
Attempt to leave
But it was Gloria’s attempt to leave posthaste that caught the attention of the media. The event that transpired at the Ninoy International Airport (NAIA) a few hours after the TRO was announced by the Supreme Court – but not yet delivered to the government – was full of dramatics.
Accompanied by a retinue of aides, Gloria – in a wheelchair wearing a neck brace — and her husband Mike arrived at 8:00 pm in an ambulance at Terminal 1 and tried to board a Dragon Air flight bound for Hong Kong. She passed through several control points but was confronted by Immigration officers just before boarding the plane. She then claimed that her blood pressure has gone up and was rushed back to the hospital.
The airport incident led to a flurry of activity. Supreme Court Administrator Midas Marquez warned Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and other government officials that they “might be held for contempt” if they continue to defy the TRO and prevent the Arroyos from leaving the country. He opined that once the TRO is issued, it takes effect immediately. However, he said that TROs are just “provisional remedy for the time being.” But Mr. Marquez should realize that the Arroyos leaving the country is not provisional, it could be permanent with no remedy for recourse to force them to come back to face justice.
“Clash of Titans”
In a hastily called press conference, De Lima reportedly said: “In the event the Arroyos appear at the airport and other ports of exit between now and up to the resolution of our motion for reconsideration, [authorities] need to bar them from leaving. The TRO is being stayed or deferred until the resolution of [our] motion for reconsideration.” She said that the country would become the “laughingstock of the world” if Gloria were allowed to leave.
So, what’s the Supreme Court’s recourse? Would the high court hold De Lima and President Benigno Aquino III in contempt and have them arrested? Can the Supreme Court order the Philippine National Police or the National Bureau of Investigation, which is under DOJ, to make the arrests? But who would dare arrest President Aquino, a co-equal of Supreme Court chief Justice Renato Corona?
What we’re seeing here is a “Clash of Titans” — the President who is clearly determined to bring Gloria to justice and the Chief Justice who is seemingly determined to protect Gloria from prosecution. And if this Titanic clash is not averted and neither one would acquiesce, a constitutional crisis would certainly occur.
Legal precedents
But there is a way out of the Supreme Court’s dilemma. The Supreme Court had set legal precedents that the “right to travel” is not absolute.
In his Inquirer column last November 10, Raul Pangalangan, former Dean of the UP College of Law, said: “To start with, the Supreme Court itself has ruled that the right to travel is not absolute. The Court has upheld the power of the Presidential Commission on Good Government to issue hold-departure orders against ‘persons [who are] known or suspected to be involved’ as Marcos cronies. Yet that power was not explicitly granted in the PCGG’s charter, and was merely implied from its power ‘to conduct investigation[s]’ and ‘restrain any [act] that may render moot and academic, or frustrate or otherwise make ineffectual [its] efforts.’
“In another case, the Court also upheld the power of the secretary of labor to issue a deployment ban. The power to regulate the exit of our migrant workers is encompassing, to the chagrin of legitimate OFWs who simply want to earn an honest living, including overseas Filipino professionals who are harassed at the airport with queues and inutile paperwork each time they visit family. Yet the Court, citing ‘public safety,’ has upheld the DOLE’s powers.
“There is an impression held by many (including myself initially) that these departure restrictions may be issued only by courts. Not so, as both cases demonstrate. Both departure constraints were issued merely by executive agencies, not by courts. Neither the Constitution nor the Supreme Court requires a judicially issued order.”
“Solomonic” decision
The ball is now in Corona’s court. The government’s “motion for reconsideration” would give the Supreme Court a chance to take another hard look at this issue and come up with a “Solomonic” decision that would be satisfactory to all concerned.
In my opinion, the best solution is for Gloria to accept Aquino’s offer to bring foreign medical experts to the country and treat her at a local medical facility notwithstanding the Philippine Medical Association’s claim that there are Filipino doctors capable of treating her illness. And since Gloria’s medical condition is not life-threatening, there is really no urgency for her to seek medical treatment abroad. A little time lost is not critical at this time. Nevertheless, the government is duty-bound to prosecute major crimes – particularly plunder and electoral sabotage — and should not be impeded because Gloria wants to go abroad for medical treatment.
And should Corona insist on seeing to it that Gloria takes off and thus igniting a constitutional crisis, Aquino might be forced to play a hand that nobody wants to see happen.
Indeed, there is more to law than the law itself. That is the essence of the constitution.
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