NPC urges DoJ to allow Gloria Arroyo to travel for medical treatment

MANILA, Philippines—The Nationalist People’s Coalition political party on Monday  added its voice in support of the travel request of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to seek medical treatment abroad and urged Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to grant it on humanitarian grounds.

“We call on Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to act with haste and set aside the watch list order imposed against former President Arroyo by virtue of humanitarian considerations,” said Valenzuela Rep. Rex Gatchalian, NPC spokesperson.

“This matter which concerns the life and well-being of a former president has already surpassed the bounds of being just a mere political or even a legal issue,” he stressed.

Arroyo has been diagnosed to be suffering from hypoparathyroidism, an endocrine disorder wherein the parathyroid glands in the neck are not producing enough parathyroid hormones, the most common regulator of phosphorous and calcium levels in the body, Gatchalian said.

He likewise pointed out that barring Arroyo from travel at this critical stage of her life would send a wrong message to the public.

“If anything bad happens to her at this point of time, God forbids, that would surely put the Justice Department in a bad light and that (wrong decision) would haunt it forever,” he said.

Gatchalian shared the opinion of legal luminaries such Fr. Joaquin Bernas, Sen. Franklin Drilon and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile who all agree that the issuance of a watch list order against the Arroyos by the DOJ was illegal because it impinges on the constitutionally guaranteed right to travel.

“We just hope Secretary de Lima will just allow her to be treated abroad,” Gatchalian said.