Oral arguments on anti-terrorism law to proceed on February 2
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has dismissed Solicitor General Jose Calida’s bid to cancel the oral arguments on anti-terrorism law petitions that cited new and more infectious coronavirus and the “trauma” brought by one assistant solicitor general contracting COVID-19 on their lawyers.
Calida had asked the SC to forego the oral arguments and instead allow the parties to argue through the submission of memoranda in a January 14 pleading. He said that an assistant solicitor general who participated in the preliminary conference of the case tested positive for COVID-19, and this “concretizes the incalculable risk of infection that COVID-19 imposes upon attendees of the scheduled Oral Arguments” including magistrates.
The solicitor general had also noted that the Department of Health has detected the B.1.1.7. SARS-CoV-2 in the country, and that requiring an RT-PCR test 72 hours before the oral arguments will not ensure that all attendees are not infected with the coronavirus.
“Indubitably, this disturbing development makes it imperative more than ever for this Honorable Court and the parties to adopt alternative means to thresh out contentious and legal issues in these cases in lieu of in-court Oral Arguments,” the solicitor general said.
He added: “This Honorable Court is invited to go beyond the biological impact of COVID-19 on the affected Assistant Solicitors General but on the psychological trauma which COVID-19 wrenches on the other solicitors preparing for the oral argument as well.”
But SC in a January 19 order, made public only on Friday, denied Calida’s motion and instead ordered that the oral arguments proceed on February 2.
The tribunal also said it will defer action on petitioners' prayer for injunctive relief, such as a temporary restraining order to halt the law's implementation, until the end of the oral debates.
Petitioners' plea for alternates also denied
In the same order, the SC also denied the petitioners’ prayer for the alternate lawyers to the seven who will present their arguments to be physically present on the oral arguments.
Former Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz leads the team for the petitioners. He is joined by Rep. Edcel Lagman (Albay), constitutional law professor Alfredo Molo III and rights lawyers Chel Diokno, Evalyn Ursua, Neri Colmenares and Algmar Latiph.
READ: Lawyer to amplify long unheard Moro, IP voices at anti-terrorism law debate
The petitioners, meanwhile, named lawyers Randall Tabayoyong, Theodore Te, Josalee Deinla, Ephraim Cortez, Howard Calleja and Batuas Lucman as alternates.
Calida had also named three assistant solicitors general who will accompany him for the oral arguments. They are Assistant Solicitor Generals Marissa Dela Cruz-Galandines, Bernard Hernandez and Rex Bernardo Pascual.
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