Dispatch from Crame No. 287:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's statement on the SC ruling on her DOJ watch list order

4/18/18

Kung yan po ang pasya ng Korte Suprema na labag sa Saligang Batas yung DOJ Circular No. 14, tinatanggap ko po. Kailangan ko lang pong ihayag ang mga saloobin ko sa bagay na ito.

The SC Decision nullifying DOJ Circular No. 41 and the Watch List Order issued against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been a foregone conclusion ever since the Court allowed Arroyo to attempt to flee from Philippine criminal jurisdiction in November 2011.

Arroyo would have been able to leave by virtue of the SC TRO on the WLO, and thereby escape criminal prosecution for pending criminal complaints--most of them non-bailable--if not for the subsequent warrants of arrest issued by the Pasay City Regional Trial Court and the Sandiganbayan for electoral sabotage and plunder charges, respectively. These warrants of arrest actually rendered the Supreme Court case moot and academic.

Which is why it is also a wonder why it took the Court a total of almost seven years, from November 2011 until yesterday, April 17, 2018--not to mention a change of administration--to decide a pure question of law that was, for all intents and purposes, already rendered moot and academic a long time ago.

By this time, the public is already indifferent to the whole case. I for one can no longer care less.

During that time, it was clear to me that what I was enforcing was a valid DOJ circular that was presumed constitutional until declared otherwise. How was I to know in Nov. 2011 that the WLO I issued against Arroyo was going to be declared unconstitutional by the SC in April 2018?

Hindi po ako manghuhula. Abogado ako. Kung ang Korte Suprema ay inabot ng halos pitong taon para magdesisyon kung constitutional o hindi ang WLO kay Arroyo, marahil ay hindi rin ganoon kalinaw kahit sa kanila kung tama nga ba o mali ang WLO. Dahil kung malinaw na pagkakamali at illegal ang WLO, hindi naman siguro dapat inabot ng pitong taon ang pagtalakay dito ng Korte Suprema.

If it took the SC seven years to answer a single question of law, then it must really be a very difficult question of law.

Hindi rin po ako ang nag-issue ng DOJ Circular No. 41. Ang DOJ po sa ilalim ni Arroyo ang nag-issue nito.

I only enforced the DOJ Circular when circumstances called for it; when an event ensued for which the DOJ Circular was precisely crafted and issued by Arroyo's own Secretary of Justice. And that event was Arroyo's attempted escape from the non-bailable criminal complaints then pending against her before the DOJ, and eventually the RTC and Sandiganbayan.

At kung susumahin lahat, makikita naman natin na ang dahilang ginamit ni Arroyo para tumangkang tumakas--na siya ay may malubhang karamdaman na kailangan nyang ipagamot sa ibang bansa--ay walang basehan. Matapos siyang pakawalan ng Korte Suprema mula sa pagkabilanggo noong July 19, 2016, tila bigla pong nawala lahat ng nararamdamang sakit ni Ginang Arroyo.

Panlilinlang po ito sa Korte Suprema. Malubha daw ang kanyang karamdaman, at sa ibang bansa lamang ito puwedeng ipagamot. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit siya pinayagang makaalis ng Korte Suprema, hindi dahil nagdesisyon na ang Korte Suprema na illegal ang WLO at ang DOJ Circular No. 41. Pitong taon pa ang gugugulin ng Korte Suprema bago sabihin na unconstitutional nga ang WLO at ang nasabing Circular. Ang TRO ng Korte Suprema ay nakabase sa panlilinlang ni Arroyo na siya ay may malubhang karamdaman na pwede lamang ipagamot sa ibang bansa.

Ang kasinungalingan na ito ni Arroyo--na siyang puno't dulo ng kaguluhan sa TRO--ang kailangan ding linawin ng Korte Suprema, sa kadahilanang bibong-bibong naglalakad ngayon sa harapan nila ang ebidensya, pagkatapos nila itong pakawalan. Katulad din ng bibong-bibong si Juan Ponce Enrile na pinakawalan din ng Korte Suprema sa dahilang matanda na raw at may karamdaman din.

Marahil ito ang malaking misteryo na hindi masasagot ng desisyon ng Korte Suprema, na kung bakit pagdating sa mga makapangyarihang mga nilalang na katulad ni Arroyo at Enrile ay naiiba bigla ang batas, at madali silang mapalaya, habang ang inosente na ikinulong dahil lamang sa mga gawa-gawang kaso ay hinahayaang mabulok sa bilangguan.