Manila court ruling softens DOJ on MJ arrest

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez backed down yesterday in his bid to have Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez arrested after the Manila regional trial court (RTC) rejected the government’s request.

The Department of Justice has asked Judge Guillermo Purganan of Manila RTC branch 42 to order the arrest of Jimenez pending his extradition to the United States where the congressman is facing a string of federal offenses.

Perez said the justice department will abide by whatever the court says and that he will not ask for the "impeachment" of Purganan from the case.

"We will wait for the finality of the decision and obey the orders of the court," he said.

Perez said he and government prosecutors were "just doing our job" when they asked Purganan to issue a warrant of arrest for Jimenez since extradition proceedings are summary in nature.

"Nobody can say that we are not doing our part," he said. "We did our best and we want to honor the decision of the SC," he said.

Perez said Purganan has at least 90 days to decide whether Jimenez can be turned over to American officials, while the Supreme court could take months to rule on the motion of reconsideration of the lawmaker.

"If the court refuses to issue the warrant until after the lapse of the 15-day period within which to file a motion for reconsideration, then so be it," he said. "We will respect and honor the decision of the court."

Meanwhile, leaders of the House of Representative will file a bill seeking to amend Presidential Decree No. 1069, the extradition law, to allow Filipinos facing extradition to post bail.

Rep. Marcelino Libanan, House justice committee chairman, said the justice and foreign affairs committees will hold a joint hearing on Tuesday so their officials could present documents on the status of various requests for extradition from foreign governments.

"These (joint) hearings are to ensure that the right to bail is available to all Filipinos facing extradition requests," he said.

Libanan said the constitutional freedoms of Filipinos should not be curtailed by extradition proceedings and that extradition laws should be re-examined to remove this gray area.

"In the model for extradition followed by the United Nations, there is that provision (allowing bail)," he said. "And European countries have re-negotiated their treaties to include the right to bail. Even the US recognizes the right to bail."

On the other hand, Justice Undersecretary Merceditas Gutierrez, who is handling extradition cases, said Purganan’s order denying the government’s motion for the arrest of Jimenez was not a setback because the Supreme Court had already canceled the lawmaker’s P1-million bail. – Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe