De Lima presses appearance of Arroyo doctors at hearing

Justice Secretery Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Tuesday stressed the importance of compelling the doctors of former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to appear during the oral arguments at the Supreme Court concerning her averted foreign travel.

In an interview, De Lima said the magistrates would have a better understanding of the medical abstract that Arroyo’s lawyers submitted to the high tribunal if her doctors could explain their findings.

“The medical abstract … is technical. The justices and lawyers are not familiar with the terminology. Since they are not familiar with those, it would be better if we hear it from the doctors themselves,” De Lima told reporters.

On Monday, Arroyo’s lawyers asked the court to dismiss the petition of the Department of Justice seeking to compel the her doctors to testify before the justices.

Lawyer Estelito Mendoza argued that the doctors’ testimony would be irrelevant to the debate on the constitutionality of the watch-list order that De Lima issued against Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo.

Meanwhile, De Lima expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would uphold the constitutionality of the joint panel of the DoJ and Commission on Elections which investigated the alleged rigging of the 2007 midterm elections.

The tribunal is set to conduct oral arguments on the matter this Tuesday afternoon.