A senator highlighted Chief Justice Renato Corona's “untarnished” record of voting in favor of former president, now Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in all the cases filed against her.
"The current score is 19-0. Chief Justice Renato Corona consistently voted in favor of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in all 19 cases brought before the Supreme Court," Senator Franklin Drilon said in a statement Monday.
"He never voted against her," he added.
Drilon has also reiterated his appeal for Corona to inhibit himself from deliberations on the cases involving Arroyo to dispel doubts on the Supreme Court's impartiality and objectivity.
"All his decisions are all for Gloria. His own record shows that he favors Arroyo. Even if Chief Justice Corona's votes in the 19 cases are based on merit, what is important here is how people perceive him," he said.
Among Drilon’s list of the 19 cases he released to media is the SC decision stopping the Aquino administration from revoking the appointment of Arroyo’s alleged midnight appointees, one of whom was Corona.
Another controversial case on the list is SC's ruling declaring President Benigno Aquino III's order creating the Truth Commission unconstitutional.
The senator said that Corona's voluntary inhibition would "go a long way in maintaining the credibility of the Supreme Court especially in cases involving Arroyo."
Corona once served as chief of staff and spokesman of Arroyo when she was vice president.
Drilon earlier claimed that Corona's history with Arroyo has created perceptions that the SC was biased in favor of the former president.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Arroyo's health improving, asks for house arrest
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who tried to leave the country on medical grounds while the government scrambled to file charges against her, is well enough to leave the hospital where she was arrested last week, she and her doctors agree.
Arroyo lawyer Jose Flaminiano told a court Friday he was withdrawing his motion for a hospital arrest in favor of house arrest. Earlier, he had resisted efforts to have doctors testify about Arroyo's condition.
Arroyo is "fit to be released as outpatient," her physician Dr. Mario Ver testified Friday.
Arroyo has had three surgeries on her cervical spine, and she argued before her arrest that she needed to travel abroad for an urgent bone treatment that she claimed was unavailable in the Philippines.
The government refused to let her go this month, even after the Supreme Court ruled in her favor. She wore a head and neck brace as she was turned away from the Manila airport.
Arroyo successor President Benigno Aquino III has said the government wouldn't object to house arrest and wants the former leader treated with respect.
Arroyo, who left office last year, is charged with ordering the rigging of 2007 congressional polls, which she denies. If convicted, she faces life imprisonment.
Aquino promised to uproot corruption in the Philippines and says he wants to start with Arroyo, accusing her of proliferating a culture of graft and eroding public trust in government.
In a police medical report leaked to Friday's Philippine Daily Inquirer, medical section head of the Philippine National Police National Capital Region Hermenegilda Salangad was quoted as saying that Arroyo's medical status "has significantly improved except for the complaints of pain in low back, left knee, weakness of both feet and weak neck."
Judge Jesus Mupas of the Pasay Regional Trial Court earlier ordered Arroyo's doctors at Manila's St. Luke's Medical Center to testify about her condition. Flaminiano objected, citing doctor-patient confidentiality and the fact she was no longer seeking a hospital stay, which the court had previously approved on humanitarian grounds and because of Arroyo's stature.
The Commission on Elections, an independent body that filed the charges against Arroyo, asked to be given three days before responding to Arroyo's motion for house arrest.
In the meantime, commission lawyer Juana Valesa wants Arroyo to be transferred to a government hospital. Flaminiano objected, saying she should stay in remain in the private hospital where she has been treated until the court decides whether to allow house arrest.
Arroyo lawyer Jose Flaminiano told a court Friday he was withdrawing his motion for a hospital arrest in favor of house arrest. Earlier, he had resisted efforts to have doctors testify about Arroyo's condition.
Arroyo is "fit to be released as outpatient," her physician Dr. Mario Ver testified Friday.
Arroyo has had three surgeries on her cervical spine, and she argued before her arrest that she needed to travel abroad for an urgent bone treatment that she claimed was unavailable in the Philippines.
The government refused to let her go this month, even after the Supreme Court ruled in her favor. She wore a head and neck brace as she was turned away from the Manila airport.
Arroyo successor President Benigno Aquino III has said the government wouldn't object to house arrest and wants the former leader treated with respect.
Arroyo, who left office last year, is charged with ordering the rigging of 2007 congressional polls, which she denies. If convicted, she faces life imprisonment.
Aquino promised to uproot corruption in the Philippines and says he wants to start with Arroyo, accusing her of proliferating a culture of graft and eroding public trust in government.
In a police medical report leaked to Friday's Philippine Daily Inquirer, medical section head of the Philippine National Police National Capital Region Hermenegilda Salangad was quoted as saying that Arroyo's medical status "has significantly improved except for the complaints of pain in low back, left knee, weakness of both feet and weak neck."
Judge Jesus Mupas of the Pasay Regional Trial Court earlier ordered Arroyo's doctors at Manila's St. Luke's Medical Center to testify about her condition. Flaminiano objected, citing doctor-patient confidentiality and the fact she was no longer seeking a hospital stay, which the court had previously approved on humanitarian grounds and because of Arroyo's stature.
The Commission on Elections, an independent body that filed the charges against Arroyo, asked to be given three days before responding to Arroyo's motion for house arrest.
In the meantime, commission lawyer Juana Valesa wants Arroyo to be transferred to a government hospital. Flaminiano objected, saying she should stay in remain in the private hospital where she has been treated until the court decides whether to allow house arrest.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Marcos hits Aquino's 'selective justice'
Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. criticized President Benigno Aquino III’s handling of the case of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, calling it “a bit of a mess.”
“Hindi maayos ang pag-handle dito. Hindi yata nila napag-isipan at napagplanuhan ng maigi kung ano ang kanilang gagawin,” Marcos said in an interview Tuesday.
The senator stressed that the administration should have filed the electoral sabotage case against Arroyo earlier given the existence of sufficient evidence to support charges.
Marcos, who has been consistently critical of Aquino, accused the president of getting “very personal” with the case.
‘Selective application’ of justice
“They want to prosecute Arroyo and they are doing everything,” he said. “They are very selective in their application of justice. They are very selective in their application of the use of the power of the executive and that selection is according to the political and partisan lines.”
The senator also hit the administration for not complying with the Supreme Court’s decisions.
“It is a dismay to see that orders of the Supreme Court are no longer respected or followed. This strikes at the very heart of our legal system and if the president and his alter ego, which is the secretaries of the different departments, choose not to follow the SC then that is a very serious blow to the separation and equality of the different departments of government,” Marcos said.
Extradition an option
The senator added that he does not support the administration’s decision to stop Arroyo from traveling abroad to seek medical treatment.
There are legal remedies to extradite Arroyo back to the country to face her cases in case she plans to escape, Marcos said.
“It seems to reflect the general difficulties that this administration has been facing. I know for sure that it could have been done in a much better way,” he said.
“Hindi maayos ang pag-handle dito. Hindi yata nila napag-isipan at napagplanuhan ng maigi kung ano ang kanilang gagawin,” Marcos said in an interview Tuesday.
The senator stressed that the administration should have filed the electoral sabotage case against Arroyo earlier given the existence of sufficient evidence to support charges.
Marcos, who has been consistently critical of Aquino, accused the president of getting “very personal” with the case.
‘Selective application’ of justice
“They want to prosecute Arroyo and they are doing everything,” he said. “They are very selective in their application of justice. They are very selective in their application of the use of the power of the executive and that selection is according to the political and partisan lines.”
The senator also hit the administration for not complying with the Supreme Court’s decisions.
“It is a dismay to see that orders of the Supreme Court are no longer respected or followed. This strikes at the very heart of our legal system and if the president and his alter ego, which is the secretaries of the different departments, choose not to follow the SC then that is a very serious blow to the separation and equality of the different departments of government,” Marcos said.
Extradition an option
The senator added that he does not support the administration’s decision to stop Arroyo from traveling abroad to seek medical treatment.
There are legal remedies to extradite Arroyo back to the country to face her cases in case she plans to escape, Marcos said.
“It seems to reflect the general difficulties that this administration has been facing. I know for sure that it could have been done in a much better way,” he said.
Justice pleas two years after Philippine massacre
Relatives of 57 people killed in the Philippines' worst political massacre were set to mark two years since the killings Wednesday with pleas for authorities to speed up the justice process.
While key leaders of the Ampatuan clan who are accused of orchestrating the killings have been charged, their trial is still in its early stages and prosecutors fear it could take years before anyone is punished for the crime.
Meanwhile, 100 suspects -- including members of the Ampatuan family, policemen and soldiers -- have yet to be caught, and relatives of the victims have complained that witnesses are being killed, intimidated or bribed.
"It has been two years and there is still no justice. Some (suspects) have been arraigned but others are still out there," said Reginald Dalmacio, 28, whose sister Leah, a newspaper journalist, was one of the 57 killed.
Philippine politics is well known for its violence, but the events of November 23, 2009, in a remote farming area of the southern province of Maguindanao shocked the world.
Andal Ampatuan Jnr allegedly led a group of about 100 gunmen in stopping a convoy of cars carrying relatives of a rival political candidate, their lawyers and accompanying journalists, then massacring them.
Ampatuan Jnr allegedly led the killings because he wanted to stop the rival political candidate, Esmael Mangudadatu, from challenging him in elections.
Thirty-two of the victims were journalists who were travelling with the convoy to witness Mangudatatu's wife, pregnant sister and other relatives lodge his candidacy to run against Ampatuan Jnr for the post of provincial governor.
Andal Ampatuan Jnr's father and namesake was at the time governor of Maguindanao and had been planning to install his son as successor.
Ampatuan Snr had ruled Maguindanao for nearly a decade, building a reputation over that time as a feared warlord who used a private army of a few thousand men to ensure he and his relatives won elections.
He ruled the province with the support of then-president Gloria Arroyo, who helped fund and legitimise his private army so it could be used as a proxy force against Muslim separatist rebels.
Ampatuan Snr and Jnr are among 64 people who are on trial in Manila, with a total of 93 suspects having been arrested but another 100 are on the run.
A day ahead of the two-year anniversary, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said the pressure was on President Benigno Aquino's government to speed up the "very slow wheels of justice" in the case.
"The government has to show that it has the ability to render justice in a massacre that constituted the world's worst ever attack on journalists and the world's worst ever election related single incident," it said.
Government prosecutor Nena Santos, who is handling the case, said her team was trying its best but the huge number of suspects and the stalling tactics of the defence lawyers had slowed proceedings.
Even on less complex cases the Philippine justice system is notoriously slow, with a trial taking an average six years to complete, according to government data.
Victims relatives are pinning their hopes on Aquino, who won elections last year in a landslide after promising to end the culture of impunity that has allowed so many powerful people in the Philippines to get away with crimes.
Government employee Ellver Cablitas, whose wife, radio broadcaster Marites, was one of those murdered, said he was looking to Aquino to keep his campaign promises.
"His advocacy was change, that those who are guilty must be punished so that is what he should deliver to us," Cablitas told AFP.
Relatives of the victims will hold a ceremony at the massacre site on Wednesday to mark the two-year anniversary.
On Tuesday relatives of some of those killed sued the then-president Gloria Arroyo for arming and supporting the alleged murderers.
While key leaders of the Ampatuan clan who are accused of orchestrating the killings have been charged, their trial is still in its early stages and prosecutors fear it could take years before anyone is punished for the crime.
Meanwhile, 100 suspects -- including members of the Ampatuan family, policemen and soldiers -- have yet to be caught, and relatives of the victims have complained that witnesses are being killed, intimidated or bribed.
"It has been two years and there is still no justice. Some (suspects) have been arraigned but others are still out there," said Reginald Dalmacio, 28, whose sister Leah, a newspaper journalist, was one of the 57 killed.
Philippine politics is well known for its violence, but the events of November 23, 2009, in a remote farming area of the southern province of Maguindanao shocked the world.
Andal Ampatuan Jnr allegedly led a group of about 100 gunmen in stopping a convoy of cars carrying relatives of a rival political candidate, their lawyers and accompanying journalists, then massacring them.
Ampatuan Jnr allegedly led the killings because he wanted to stop the rival political candidate, Esmael Mangudadatu, from challenging him in elections.
Thirty-two of the victims were journalists who were travelling with the convoy to witness Mangudatatu's wife, pregnant sister and other relatives lodge his candidacy to run against Ampatuan Jnr for the post of provincial governor.
Andal Ampatuan Jnr's father and namesake was at the time governor of Maguindanao and had been planning to install his son as successor.
Ampatuan Snr had ruled Maguindanao for nearly a decade, building a reputation over that time as a feared warlord who used a private army of a few thousand men to ensure he and his relatives won elections.
He ruled the province with the support of then-president Gloria Arroyo, who helped fund and legitimise his private army so it could be used as a proxy force against Muslim separatist rebels.
Ampatuan Snr and Jnr are among 64 people who are on trial in Manila, with a total of 93 suspects having been arrested but another 100 are on the run.
A day ahead of the two-year anniversary, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said the pressure was on President Benigno Aquino's government to speed up the "very slow wheels of justice" in the case.
"The government has to show that it has the ability to render justice in a massacre that constituted the world's worst ever attack on journalists and the world's worst ever election related single incident," it said.
Government prosecutor Nena Santos, who is handling the case, said her team was trying its best but the huge number of suspects and the stalling tactics of the defence lawyers had slowed proceedings.
Even on less complex cases the Philippine justice system is notoriously slow, with a trial taking an average six years to complete, according to government data.
Victims relatives are pinning their hopes on Aquino, who won elections last year in a landslide after promising to end the culture of impunity that has allowed so many powerful people in the Philippines to get away with crimes.
Government employee Ellver Cablitas, whose wife, radio broadcaster Marites, was one of those murdered, said he was looking to Aquino to keep his campaign promises.
"His advocacy was change, that those who are guilty must be punished so that is what he should deliver to us," Cablitas told AFP.
Relatives of the victims will hold a ceremony at the massacre site on Wednesday to mark the two-year anniversary.
On Tuesday relatives of some of those killed sued the then-president Gloria Arroyo for arming and supporting the alleged murderers.
Colleagues urge Gloria to resign congressional seat
Two party-list representatives on Tuesday urged former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign as Pampanga’s Second District representative after she was arrested last week for electoral sabotage.
Her arrest made Arroyo “unfit for public service," said ACT Teachers’ party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio.
“Since the electoral sabotage case is just the first of many charges that she will face as she is called to account for the numerous crimes against the people she committed during her presidency, it will become impossible for her to discharge her duties as representative," Tinio said in a text message to reporters.
Mrs. Arroyo is under hospital arrest at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) sued her Friday for electoral sabotage.
The former President is accused of giving orders to rig the 2007 poll results in favor of administration senatorial candidates.
Also, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño said Mrs. Arroyo should quit her congressional seat since “her continued membership further tarnishes the House’s honor."
“She has brought embarrassment and dishonor to the House. She should now do the House and her constituents a favor by resigning from Congress," he said in a separate text message to reporter.
Since July when she was diagnosed with a pinched nerve in her spine or multilevel cervical spondylosis, Mrs. Arroyo has not been attending congressional sessions, going went through a series of operations in the past months.
She was also diagnosed with bone mineral disorder and hypoparathyroidism.
'A personal matter'
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he “does not go along" with calls for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation after her arrest.
“I always thought that in this country, meron pa ring presumption of innocence… At any rate, resignation is a personal matter and hindi naman pwedeng i-force ‘yan," he said.
The House Speaker noted he does not believe the former President has tarnished the House’s reputation, since the accusations against her were supposedly committed before her term as Pampanga congresswoman.
“… [I]f ever it will reach a point that she is unable to discharge’" her duties, the House may appoint a “caretaker" for the Second District of Pampanga, Belmonte said.
Three other Pampanga representatives or even Mrs. Arroyo’s son, Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey" Arroyo, may be tasked to take charge of the district, according to the Speaker
Her arrest made Arroyo “unfit for public service," said ACT Teachers’ party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio.
“Since the electoral sabotage case is just the first of many charges that she will face as she is called to account for the numerous crimes against the people she committed during her presidency, it will become impossible for her to discharge her duties as representative," Tinio said in a text message to reporters.
Mrs. Arroyo is under hospital arrest at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) sued her Friday for electoral sabotage.
The former President is accused of giving orders to rig the 2007 poll results in favor of administration senatorial candidates.
Also, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño said Mrs. Arroyo should quit her congressional seat since “her continued membership further tarnishes the House’s honor."
“She has brought embarrassment and dishonor to the House. She should now do the House and her constituents a favor by resigning from Congress," he said in a separate text message to reporter.
Since July when she was diagnosed with a pinched nerve in her spine or multilevel cervical spondylosis, Mrs. Arroyo has not been attending congressional sessions, going went through a series of operations in the past months.
She was also diagnosed with bone mineral disorder and hypoparathyroidism.
'A personal matter'
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he “does not go along" with calls for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation after her arrest.
“I always thought that in this country, meron pa ring presumption of innocence… At any rate, resignation is a personal matter and hindi naman pwedeng i-force ‘yan," he said.
The House Speaker noted he does not believe the former President has tarnished the House’s reputation, since the accusations against her were supposedly committed before her term as Pampanga congresswoman.
“… [I]f ever it will reach a point that she is unable to discharge’" her duties, the House may appoint a “caretaker" for the Second District of Pampanga, Belmonte said.
Three other Pampanga representatives or even Mrs. Arroyo’s son, Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey" Arroyo, may be tasked to take charge of the district, according to the Speaker
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Palace readying 'at least 20 cases' against Gloria Arroyo
Apart from electoral sabotage charges, former President and current Pampanga Second District Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should expect around 20 cases filed against her, including plunder which is also a non-bailable offense when evidence of guilt is strong, Malacañang said Monday.
Office of Political Affairs Secretary Ronald Llamas said, “Alam ko kasi merong almost 20 na hinahanda na mga cases, plunder, electoral sabotage, et cetara. So, sa tingin ko in the next few days or weeks ay baka ‘yung mga kaso na yan, ay magsimula nang isampa ang mga yan."
The Palace appears to be making good on the promise President Benigno Aquino III made last Sept. 28 that cases would be filed one after the other against Arroyo by November.
Also on Monday, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, former congresswoman Liza Maza and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) chairperson Carol Araullo filed an urgent motion to resolve the complaint they filed against Mrs. Arroyo last September, and to immediately file a plunder case against her in relation to the allegedly anomalous national broadband deal (NBN) her administration entered into with the Chinese firm ZTE Corp. in 2007.
Arroyo was arrested last Friday for electoral sabotage, which carries a life sentence, at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig, Metro Manila.
Over the weekend, Aquino assured Arroyo that she would be given the chance to defend herself in court over charges of electoral sabotage.
But Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago warned on Monday that “a movement within Malacañang that is following blind vengeance against Rep. Arroyo" is “putting President Aquino in legal peril." She told reporters that, “There is political persecution, there is no due process of law, and there is inherent bad faith in the timing of filing of the case in the regular RTC and consequent issuance of a warrant of arrest."
Office of Political Affairs Secretary Ronald Llamas said, “Alam ko kasi merong almost 20 na hinahanda na mga cases, plunder, electoral sabotage, et cetara. So, sa tingin ko in the next few days or weeks ay baka ‘yung mga kaso na yan, ay magsimula nang isampa ang mga yan."
The Palace appears to be making good on the promise President Benigno Aquino III made last Sept. 28 that cases would be filed one after the other against Arroyo by November.
Also on Monday, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, former congresswoman Liza Maza and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) chairperson Carol Araullo filed an urgent motion to resolve the complaint they filed against Mrs. Arroyo last September, and to immediately file a plunder case against her in relation to the allegedly anomalous national broadband deal (NBN) her administration entered into with the Chinese firm ZTE Corp. in 2007.
Arroyo was arrested last Friday for electoral sabotage, which carries a life sentence, at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig, Metro Manila.
Over the weekend, Aquino assured Arroyo that she would be given the chance to defend herself in court over charges of electoral sabotage.
But Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago warned on Monday that “a movement within Malacañang that is following blind vengeance against Rep. Arroyo" is “putting President Aquino in legal peril." She told reporters that, “There is political persecution, there is no due process of law, and there is inherent bad faith in the timing of filing of the case in the regular RTC and consequent issuance of a warrant of arrest."
Monday, November 21, 2011
Supreme Court may undo Philippine ex-president's arrest
Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Former Philippine president and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Arroyo may still get a reprieve if the Supreme Court declares as unconstitutional the joint Commission on Elections and the Department of Justice (Comelec-DOJ) panel that recommended her prosecution for alleged electoral fraud, officials said.
Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento expressed fears that the high tribunal might short-circuit the current administration's move, regarded as unprecedented in the annals of Philippine jurisprudence, to arrest Arroyo for allegedly sabotaging the 2007 balloting and thus prevent her from leaving for medical treatment abroad. The Palace has said the trip was a cover to seek asylum and escape prosecution.
Sarmiento told reporters on Friday about the possibility Arroyo would be freed should the high tribunal rule in favor of the petitions questioning the constitutionality of the panel.
"If the Supreme Court would say it is illegal or unconstitutional, that might be the effect...it might nullify [her arrest]," said Sarmiento, who was among five of the seven members of the Comelec en banc who voted for the filing of electoral sabotage against Arroyo on Friday.
Supreme Court spokesperson Midas Marquez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday that the petitions filed by Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, and former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos remained pending.
"If the panel is adjudged as unconstitutional, then of course all the proceedings conducted by that panel would have to be nullified," Marquez said. "But again, we have to wait for the decision of the court. I don't want to preempt what the court will do next."
Arroyo, 64, who is suffering a rare bone ailment, is now under "hospital arrest" at St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City, after Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Jesus Mupas found probable cause to warrant trial of the nonbailable criminal charge penalised with life imprisonment.
The Comelec-DOJ panel early on Friday approved the resolution charging Arroyo, three days after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ignored a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court on her directive barring Arroyo from leaving the country for medical treatment.
Legal eagles say the TRO is an "extraordinary measure" to prevent irreparable harm against individuals brought by "awesome" state powers.
Aquino Express victim
Two election commissioners did not take part in the decision, claiming that they did not receive a copy of the joint Comelec-DOJ resolution.
Hours later, the document, along with voluminous attachments, was sent to the Pasay City RTC and the case was raffled off.
Mupas, who had previously been reprimanded for sitting on his cases, swiftly fired off the arrest warrant, also within hours, having found probable cause in the charge against Arroyo.
The Arroyo camp denounced the swift manner in which the case was "railroaded," claiming that the former President had just become a victim of the "P-Noy Express". (P-Noy is President Benigno Aquino III's popular moniker.)
While raising the possibility of a negative court decision, Sarmiento expressed confidence about the legality of the panel, which he said was based on Republic Act No. 9369 which allowed Comelec to partner with executive agencies for investigative purposes. "So we can say that we acted with legal suppor," he said.
But should the high court decide against the panel, Sarmiento said the Comelec's recourse was to conduct and resolve the investigation on its own without the justice department.
"But we won't go back to square one because there are already affidavits submitted," he said.
Lawyers for Arroyo and Abalos have pointed out that the Comelec is mandated under the Constitution to act as an independent body and in partnering with the justice department of the executive branch the joint panel had become nothing more than a "kangaroo court".
They pointed out that the panel was specifically created to prosecute the former President, just like the ill-fated Philippine Truth Commission, which the high tribunal had declared as unconstitutional for being a violation of the due process clause enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
They also said that Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes and De Lima were opposition lawyers during the elections.
De Lima has said that the joint panel was created "so that we'll have a smooth process since both Comelec and DOJ have concurrent jurisdiction on election offenses".
President Aquino has said he wants Arroyo in jail before Christmas to fulfill a campaign promise to prosecute the former President for alleged corruption and electoral sabotage.
Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento expressed fears that the high tribunal might short-circuit the current administration's move, regarded as unprecedented in the annals of Philippine jurisprudence, to arrest Arroyo for allegedly sabotaging the 2007 balloting and thus prevent her from leaving for medical treatment abroad. The Palace has said the trip was a cover to seek asylum and escape prosecution.
Sarmiento told reporters on Friday about the possibility Arroyo would be freed should the high tribunal rule in favor of the petitions questioning the constitutionality of the panel.
"If the Supreme Court would say it is illegal or unconstitutional, that might be the effect...it might nullify [her arrest]," said Sarmiento, who was among five of the seven members of the Comelec en banc who voted for the filing of electoral sabotage against Arroyo on Friday.
Supreme Court spokesperson Midas Marquez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday that the petitions filed by Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, and former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos remained pending.
"If the panel is adjudged as unconstitutional, then of course all the proceedings conducted by that panel would have to be nullified," Marquez said. "But again, we have to wait for the decision of the court. I don't want to preempt what the court will do next."
Arroyo, 64, who is suffering a rare bone ailment, is now under "hospital arrest" at St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City, after Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Jesus Mupas found probable cause to warrant trial of the nonbailable criminal charge penalised with life imprisonment.
The Comelec-DOJ panel early on Friday approved the resolution charging Arroyo, three days after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ignored a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court on her directive barring Arroyo from leaving the country for medical treatment.
Legal eagles say the TRO is an "extraordinary measure" to prevent irreparable harm against individuals brought by "awesome" state powers.
Aquino Express victim
Two election commissioners did not take part in the decision, claiming that they did not receive a copy of the joint Comelec-DOJ resolution.
Hours later, the document, along with voluminous attachments, was sent to the Pasay City RTC and the case was raffled off.
Mupas, who had previously been reprimanded for sitting on his cases, swiftly fired off the arrest warrant, also within hours, having found probable cause in the charge against Arroyo.
The Arroyo camp denounced the swift manner in which the case was "railroaded," claiming that the former President had just become a victim of the "P-Noy Express". (P-Noy is President Benigno Aquino III's popular moniker.)
While raising the possibility of a negative court decision, Sarmiento expressed confidence about the legality of the panel, which he said was based on Republic Act No. 9369 which allowed Comelec to partner with executive agencies for investigative purposes. "So we can say that we acted with legal suppor," he said.
But should the high court decide against the panel, Sarmiento said the Comelec's recourse was to conduct and resolve the investigation on its own without the justice department.
"But we won't go back to square one because there are already affidavits submitted," he said.
Lawyers for Arroyo and Abalos have pointed out that the Comelec is mandated under the Constitution to act as an independent body and in partnering with the justice department of the executive branch the joint panel had become nothing more than a "kangaroo court".
They pointed out that the panel was specifically created to prosecute the former President, just like the ill-fated Philippine Truth Commission, which the high tribunal had declared as unconstitutional for being a violation of the due process clause enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
They also said that Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes and De Lima were opposition lawyers during the elections.
De Lima has said that the joint panel was created "so that we'll have a smooth process since both Comelec and DOJ have concurrent jurisdiction on election offenses".
President Aquino has said he wants Arroyo in jail before Christmas to fulfill a campaign promise to prosecute the former President for alleged corruption and electoral sabotage.
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