Palace insists curfew constitutional

Malacañang maintained yesterday that the imposition of a curfew following a foiled attempt to overthrow President Arroyo last week in Makati City was constitutional.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita issued the statement as senators condemned the imposition of the curfew and set an investigation into the authorities’ handling of the standoff at the Peninsula Manila involving Sen. Antonio Trillanes and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

The Philippine National Police imposed the curfew starting midnight last Thursday until 5 a.m. the following day.

Ermita cited the Supreme Court ruling on Sanlakas vs Reyes in 2004 where the High Tribunal upheld Mrs. Arroyo’s issuance of Proclamation 427 in July 2003, declaring a state of rebellion, and General Order 4 ordering the Armed Forces and the PNP to quell the rebellion after Trillanes, then a Navy lieutenant, took over the former Oakwood Premier Suites in Makati City along with nearly 200 soldiers.

He said declaring a curfew in the absence of a declaration of a state of emergency is legal and constitutional.

Ermita said Section 18, Article 7 of the Constitution allows the President to exercise emergency powers.

“President Arroyo could validly declare a national emergency in absence of congressional approval and there is no need to declare a state of national emergency for powers to be exercised by the President whenever necessary,” he said.

Imposing curfews or “impairment of right to travel” is among the powers granted to the President in cases of national emergency or rebellion, Ermita said.

The Senate earlier passed a resolution condemning the curfew imposed by the PNP. Fourteen senators led by Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. signed Senate Resolution 233 that expressed the Senate’s strong objection to the implementation of the curfew that resulted in the arrest of more than 800 people last Friday.

Crossing party lines, senators agreed that the curfew was “without legal and constitutional basis” as they urged the appropriate committee to conduct an investigation in aid of legislation to provide remedial legislation to prevent the repeat of a similar incident.

“The arrest and handcuffing of the media and the imposition of curfew is really alarming. Both may become a standard operating procedure if we will not complain about it,” Villar said.

Pangilinan, a lawyer, argued that the curfew was also an open violation of the fundamental rights of the people under the Freedom Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

He reiterated that the imposition of curfew has no legal basis because the police power of the state is generally exercised by the legislature.

“This power can only be used by the Executive through a valid delegated legislative authority,” Pangilinan said.