GMA, others not required to attend 1st hearing

MANILA, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is not yet required to attend the first hearing of the joint preliminary investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Commission on Elections (Comelec) on the alleged cheating in the 2007 national elections in Mindanao.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, chair of the five-man joint panel, confirmed yesterday that Arroyo and other respondents named in the report of the joint fact-finding team and the formal complaint of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III are not yet required to attend the first hearing scheduled on Thursday, Nov. 3.

“The hearing is set for preliminary conference where we will first furnish lawyers of respondents copies of the charges, including the fact-finding report and complaint of Senator Koko,” he said.

Arellano, chief of DOJ’s National Prosecution Service, said the date of submission of answers from respondents will be set during the first meeting.

“When the submission of the counter-affidavits is set, that’s the time all respondents are required to appear before the panel to subscribe their affidavits,” he said.

In a usual preliminary investigation in DOJ, the respondents in a complaint are given 10 days from the first hearing to submit their answers.

In many cases, however, their lawyers would raise several motions that are needed to be resolved before the filing of counter-affidavit could be ordered by the investigating fiscals.

Aside from Arroyo, the other respondents in the poll fraud case are former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos, former commissioner

Nicodemo Ferrer, detained former Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr., former provincial administrator Norie Unas, former provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol, and 19 election officers and assistants. They were allegedly involved in poll fraud in Maguindanao.

Also named as respondents in the poll fraud case are lawyer Jaime Paz, former justice secretary Alberto Agra, regional poll director lawyer Michael Abas, Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Region XII director Col. Reuben Basiao, a certain Maj. Joey Leaban and Capt. Peter Reyes, and former poll supervisors Lilian Radam and Yogie Martirizar. They were summoned for alleged involvement in poll fraud in North and South Cotabato.

Former first gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo was still called to the preliminary investigation even if he was not among those recommended charged by the fact-finding team because he is a respondent in Pimentel’s complaint. 

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is expected to decide on Wednesday regarding the petition of the Arroyos to travel abroad to seek treatment for the former president’s rare disease in the cervical spine.

De Lima has sought the advice of Health Secretary Enrique Ona to determine the urgency of the travel.

Arroyo has been placed on the Immigration watchlist because she faces a string of corruption and election fraud charges. 

Mixed reactions

There are clashing opinions on whether Arroyo should be allowed to travel abroad for medical reasons.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said that Arroyo is allowed to travel within the country but she has to seek permission from the DOJ to travel abroad because she has been placed on the Immigration watchlist.

He said Arroyo’s case now is similar to that of the late former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. when he had to undergo certain government clearances before he could be allowed to seek heart surgery in the United States during the Marcos era.

“Totoo ’yung may right to travel ang (former) president. Ang problema, may kaso…Kagaya ni Ninoy na may kaso, kailangan interdicted siya sa foreign travel (It’s true that the former president has the right to travel. The problem is, she has charges filed against her… Like Ninoy who had charges filed against him, she must be interdicted from foreign travel),” said Enrile in an interview with radio dzBB.

“Now let the government through the DOH to find out if she has reason to seek medical help abroad,” he added.

Enrile believes the Arroyo couple has no intentions of fleeing from the charges filed against them.

“Kung tatakas siya, anong mukha niya sa ibang bansa? (If former president Arroyo flees, won’t she lose face before the world?) The only remedy is they go to court, question the decision of the Secretary of Justice,” he said.

Last week, Sen. Franklin Drilon, a former secretary of justice, offered a different legal opinion on the watchlist order against the Arroyos.

 He said the issuance of a watchlist order against the Arroyos by the DOJ is illegal because it impinges on the constitutionally guaranteed right to travel.

He also questioned the authority of De Lima to issue a hold departure order (HDO) “in the guise of a watchlist order” because only regional trial courts can issue HDOs in cases within their jurisdiction. 

“The watchlist order which has the effect of a hold departure order is illegal. To me, the watchlist order that encroaches on the right of a person to travel is contrary to the Constitution,” Drilon said.

DOJ Department Circular No. 41, also known as the Consolidated Rules and Regulations Governing the Issuances and Implementing of Hold Departure Orders, Watchlist Orders, and Allow Departure Orders gave the DOJ power to issue such travel restrictions. It was issued by De Lima’s predecessor, Alberto Agra in May 2010, during the Arroyo administration. 

Drilon believes that under current rules, a watchlist order is in effect an HDO because a person who is placed on the watchlist should apply for an Allow Departure Order before he can travel overseas.

“A watchlist order which is in the nature of a hold departure order can only be issued by the courts. And therefore a hold departure order issued by the justice secretary, to me, has no legal basis,” Drilon said.              

Assistant Chief State Counsel Pastor Benavidez supports Drilon’s position that only the courts can issue HDOs.                          

During a hearing of the Senate justice committee, he also said that a proposed legislation which panel chairman Sen. Francis Escudero said is an “open admission” that the DOJ cannot exercise such directive without legislative cover, has been submitted for congressional action.                    

Drilon urged the DOJ to revoke the Agra circular “because it cannot be supported by the provisions of the Bill of Rights” and that is “repugnant to the provisions of the Constitution on the right to travel.”             

He said that while the Arroyos must be made to answer the countless allegations against them, the Aquino administration should follow proper procedure.              “Whether or not you are in the opposition or in the administration, these rules should govern,” said Drilon.

He said several foreign executives in the country have “expressed concern” on the DOJ’s issuance of a travel restriction because “an ordinary commercial dispute can be made to appear to be a violation of criminal laws.”

“And on that basis, a hold departure order would be issued by the Department of Justice,” he added.

Optimistic

Arroyo’s spokesperson Ma. Elena Bautista-Horn expressed optimism that the former leader will soon be allowed to travel for her consultations abroad.

She said her office has been getting “good indications” of this after several weeks of pleading with De Lima but did not elaborate on this.

“We just hope they will just allow her to be treated,” Bautista-Horn said.

She noted that Arroyo had already missed three appointments with medical specialists abroad for the treatment of her condition called “hypoparathyroidism.”

The former president underwent three surgeries on her neck last July and August. Doctors have set several titanium screws to support her neck bones and relieve the pressure on her spinal cord that was causing her pain. She continues to wear a metal brace on her head and neck as she slowly recovers. – With Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero