GMA camp seeks to stop subpoena on doctors

MANILA, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has opposed a bid of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to compel her doctors to appear before the Supreme Court (SC) to explain her real state of health.

Arroyo earlier filed a petition questioning the watchlist order (WLO) that prevented her from leaving the country to seek treatment for her bone disease.

Arroyo’s lawyers Estelito Mendoza and Anacleto Diaz asked the high court to deny the DOJ motion for issuance of subpoena on her doctors requiring them to attend Thursday’s continuation of oral arguments on the constitutionality of Circular No. 41 that was used by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in issuing the assailed WLO.

“The right to travel involved in the petition is based on Section 6, Article III of the Constitution and is not dependent on petitioner’s (Arroyo) medical condition,” they said.

They stressed that the testimonies of Arroyo’s physicians from St. Luke’s Medical Center – Doctors Mario Ver, Juliet Gopez-Cervantes, and Roberto Mirasol – would be irrelevant in determining the legality of Circular No. 41.

According to the Pampanga lawmaker’s counsels, the SC is not a trier of facts, meaning it cannot resolve questions of fact and evidence that are generally left to the trial courts and the Court of Appeals to settle.

They added that the findings of her doctors that the DOJ hopes to present in support of its WLO against Arroyo were already included in the medical abstracts submitted with the petition.

Last week, the DOJ had asked the SC to summon Arroyo’s doctors.

De Lima argued that if Arroyo was invoking her right to life, she should first establish the premise that her condition is life threatening.

The High Tribunal is set to resolve the issue today and decide whether the doctors of Arroyo would be called to the oral arguments set on Thursday.

De Lima on Sunday said she wants Arroyo’s lawyers investigated over reports that they harassed their client’s doctors just to try to win their legal battle.

She said she supports the call of militant lawmakers for an investigation of the SC and Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) against Arroyo’s lawyers Jose Flaminiano, Raul Lambino and Ferdinand Topacio for their alleged “grand deception to hide the real condition of Arroyo.”

“The alleged harassment of her own doctors is of course a very serious matter that needs to be looked into,” she said in a text message.

De Lima added that forcing doctors to certify false medical certificates “smacks of grave coercion, if not obstruction of justice.”

Coercion denied

The camp of Arroyo yesterday denied reports that her lawyers were coercing her doctors to sign fake medical certificates in order for the lawmaker to win her case.

“That is not true. We did not coerce anyone. We did not persuade anyone to issue false medical certificates,” said one of Arroyo’s lawyers, Jay Flaminiano.

Flaminiano also denied that the former president’s lawyers barred her physicians from speaking in public.

“We are encouraging them now to come out in the open and say they were never forced or coerced,” he said.

‘GMA still entitled to seek bail’

Although election sabotage is a non-bailable offense, Arroyo is still entitled to a trial on the possibility of granting her bail based on the rules of court, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said yesterday.

“The grant or denial of an application for bail is dependent on whether the evidence of guilt is strong, which the lower court should determine in a hearing called for the purpose,” she said.

“The determination of whether or not the evidence of guilt is strong, being a matter of judicial discretion, remains with the judge,” she added.

According to Santiago, a hearing is mandatory before bail can be granted to an accused who is charged with a non-bailable offense.

Citing Rule 114, Section 8 of the Rules of Court, the senator noted that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution as far as showing that the evidence of guilt of the former president is strong.

Santiago said that the RTC judge is required to first hold a bail hearing, which is considered a summary proceeding.

Sen. Franklin Drilon had earlier issued a similar position on the issue of granting bail to the former president, saying that the grant of bail depends on the discretion of the court and whether the prosecution can prove that evidence of guilt against Arroyo is strong.

Drilon said Arroyo could even ask the court to allow her to seek medical treatment abroad even if she had already been formally charged.