GMA camp welcomes Noy's offer to bring in foreign doctors, but...

MANILA, Philippines - The camp of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo welcomed yesterday President Aquino’s offer to bring to the country foreign doctors to treat her at government expense but said it would have serious and long-term constitutional repercussions.

This developed after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima stood by her decision not to allow Arroyo to leave the country to seek treatment for a rare disease in her cervical spine amid plunder and poll fraud charges against her.

Ma. Elena Bautista-Horn, Arroyo’s spokesperson, said the former leader sincerely appreciated the offer of the President, especially on shouldering the huge expense for such undertaking.

“We sincerely thank the offer of P-Noy but this is no longer a medical issue, this is already a legal issue,” Bautista-Horn said, referring to the petition filed by the former president’s lawyers on Tuesday asking the Supreme Court to nullify the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) watchlist order (WLO) against her, arguing that it is only the courts that can prevent a person from leaving the country.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona admitted that he recognized it is a person’s right to choose his doctor when he visited the former president but clarified that this “fundamental right” is not absolute.

“What I said was that, as principle, it is the right of a person to see the doctors of his choice, in hospital of his choice. However, it is not absolute,” Ona said, adding that there are “extenuating factors” that may affect a decision on whether or not Arroyo should be allowed to leave the country.

One of the reasons cited by De Lima in refusing to allow Arroyo to seek treatment abroad was Ona’s assessment that there was no compelling or immediate need for the former leader to undergo treatment in another country.

Thanks, but no thanks

Bautista-Horn reminded Aquino to uphold the rights of all Filipinos, including that of his predecessor by reading the oath of office of the President of the Philippines.

“The dilemma here is that if the former president negotiates on that, will that compromise her rights? The Constitution? Will she grab the offer and let others in the long run be victimized by this order? Will she be selfish and think only of her welfare when what is at stake here is every Filipino’s right to travel? She may get well but what about the rights of the Filipinos?” Bautista-Horn told reporters.

Mrs. Arroyo’s lawyer, Christian Diaz, thanked the President for his offer but asked how he can justify spending public funds for her private doctors and medical treatment.

“More importantly, it disregards the schedules of the doctors and assumes that they are willing to come here to treat one patient and leave their patients. The Bill of Rights cannot be subordinate to a general claim of national interest or exercise of police power that is Constitutional Law 101,” Diaz told The STAR.

Judgment call

De Lima said she fervently prayed before arriving at her decision on Tuesday and initially “agonized” on what to do.

The DOJ secretary was the former Commission on Human Rights chief during the Arroyo administration.

She advised the ailing former leader to instead consider importing her needed medical specialist and have her treatment here.

“It’s a very open option. I think many people have thought of that – for the former president to just invite her doctor of choice from abroad and have her treated here,” she told reporters in an ambush interview.

She stressed that her decision to deny the request of Rep. Arroyo to leave pending joint preliminary investigation of Department of Justice and Commission on Elections on her alleged involvement in cheating in Mindanao during the 2007 national polls was “the most just thing to do.”

For the first time, she revealed that she considered two other options apart from absolute denial of the request.

The first one was to grant the request without any condition, which she thought was “farfetched.”

She recalled that the other option was to grant the request under strict conditions, including possible sending of a government escort who will accompany the former president in her trip.

“At the end of the day, I felt that the denial is the most just thing to so. It was part of my determination. I made a judgment call based on my reading on attendant facts and circumstances,” she explained.

The DOJ chief believes she made the right decision even after receiving flak not only from the Arroyo camp but also from known allies of Aquino like Senators Francis Escudero and Panfilo Lacson.

“I have expressed substantive justifications. I feel that I have indicated enough basis. I don’t think anyone can accuse me of arbitrariness when I issued that order,” she stressed.

She downplayed allegation of Arroyo’s camp that she abused her discretion by imposing additional requirements for the issuance of allow departure order (ADO) that would be necessary for the former president to pass through Immigration counter in the airport.

“It remains still the prerogative of DOJ to require additional requirements for purposes of the determination of the existence or absence as the case maybe of exceptional reason. So, to guide the DOJ in determining whether there exist an exceptional justification for the grant of authority, we demanded other requirements and that’s why it took time,” she explained.   – With Edu Punay, Sheila Crisostomo