ShareThisBy 8-5 vote, TRO issued on DoJ Watch List order
MANILA — Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo have won initial round in their bid to travel for medical checkup and treatment abroad when the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping the Department of Justice from implementing its watch list order on the former first couple.
BARRED FROM LEAVING. Former President Gloria Arroyo watches as she is wheeled out of the airport after she and husband Jose Miguel Arroyo were barred from boarding their plane for Singapore by immigration agents. The Supreme Court by 8-5 vote allowed the travel of the Arroyos but President Aquino ordered that they should not be allowed to leave.
The High Court voted 8-5 in an en banc session on Tuesday to grant the TRO.
The government said it will file a motion for reconsideration so the High Court will lift the TRO.
The decision was immediately hailed by the Arroyos as a triumph of justice and supported by Congress leaders headed by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Senators Franklin Drilon, Francis Escudero, Joker Arroyo, Ramon Revilla Jr., Miriam Defensor Santiago and Panfilo Lacson who had come out in the open supporting the overseas medical travel of the former President who is now a congresswoman from Pampanga.
The Congress leaders pointed out that it is the constitutional right of the Arroyos to travel abroad and get doctors of their choice, considering that they have not been charged in court.
The DOJ issued the WLO against Mrs. Arroyo because of the plunder and electoral sabotage charges filed against her.
The SC en banc ordered the DOJ to submit its comment on the petition of the former President and her husband within a “non-extendible” period of three days from November 15.
Those who favored the issuance of the TRO were Chief Justice Renato Corona, Associate Justices Arturo Brion, Presbitero Velasco Jr., Jose Perez, Roberto Abad, Lucas Bersamin, Diosdado Peralta, and Martin Villarama Jr.
Those who dissented were Associate Justices Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Maria Lourdes Sereno, Bienvenido Reyes, Antonio Carpio and Jose Mendoza.
Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-De Castro and Marianito Del Castillo are on-leave.
In a press conference, SC Spokesman and Court Administrator Atty. Jose Midas Marquez said that the TRO is immediately executory upon compliance of three conditions.
The conditions are: a P2-million cash bond should be paid by the Arroyo couple; they should have legal representatives to receive the legal processes and subpoenas; and if they leave and go to any place or a country, they should report or call to the Philippine embassy or consulate in that country and inform them of their presence there.
“The TRO is restraining the effectivity of the WLO against the Arroyo couple,” Marquez said, adding that the two separate petitions filed by them were consolidated by the SC en banc.
Marquez said that with the issuance of the TRO, DOJ “Department Circular No. 41 cannot be applied.”
However, Marquez said, “the TRO, addressed to the DOJ and the Bureau of Immigration (BI), can be lifted by the SC anytime.”
The BI is an attached agency of the DOJ.
“If the Court orders them (Arroyo couple) to appear before the Court and they don’t, that would be a cause to forfeit the P2-million cash bond,” Marquez said.
He said that the “majority thought that the issuance of the TRO at this time is consistent with the
Constitutional presumption of innocence.”
Marquez said that the case filed by the former First Gentleman and Congresswoman Arroyo vs. the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) had been consolidated.
The OSG is an attached agency of the DOJ.
Likewise, Marquez also said that the case is going to be heard next Tuesday (Nov. 22).
At press time, the Arroyos posted the P2 million bond and designated their legal representatives in compliance with the SC order.
Later in the evening, the Arroyos showed up at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for their flight to Singapore where they are to catch up an appointment with a doctor on November 17.
The Arroyos were processed and were allowed even up to the pre-departure area and the VIP lounge but eventually were turned down by immigration and airport officials from leaving in defiance of the High Court.
As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, the Arroyos decided to leave the airport and motored by Lifeline ambulance to St. Lukes Hospital and Medical Center for medical checkup.
Rep. Edcel Lagman and the former First Gentleman, Mike Arroyo, who is a lawyer, denounced the administration for their action and said they will file contempt charges against those who barred them from leaving.
President Benigno S. Aquino III himself had ordered Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to stop the Arroyos from leaving for abroad.