MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked the move of the Department of Justice to summon the attending physicians of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a bid to justify Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s decision to bar the former President from leaving the country.
Voting unanimously, the 15-member high tribunal ruled that there was no need to compel the doctors to appear on Thursday during the continuation of the oral arguments on the constitutionality of De Lima’s watch-list order against Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo.
De Lima’s order prevented the Arroyo couple from leaving the country, supposedly to seek medical treatment for the former President’s degenerative bone disease.
Jose Midas Marquez, the Supreme Court administrator and spokesperson, said the high court also directed De Lima to manifest within the day if she would still continue with her presentation on Thursday.
“The motion has been denied because the doctors have already appeared before the Pasay (City) regional trial court which is hearing the (electoral sabotage) case against the former President,” Marquez said during a news briefing.
Pressed to elaborate on the court’s ruling, he said: “It’s a simple denial.”
“(What the DOJ filed) was just a motion and the court decided that there was no need for the doctors to be present during the resumption of the oral arguments,” he explained.
If De Lima decides not to resume with her presentation, Marquez said the tribunal may likely call off the oral arguments scheduled on Thursday.
Sought for comment, De Lima said the DOJ, through the Office of the Solicitor General, would seek a reconsideration of the tribunal’s decision.
She earlier stressed the importance of compelling the doctors to appear at the oral arguments, arguing that the magistrates would have a better understanding of the medical abstract that Arroyo’s lawyers submitted to the high tribunal if her doctors would explain their findings.
“The medical abstract … is technical. The justices and lawyers are not familiar with the terminology,” De Lima told reporters.
“Since they are not familiar with those, it would be better if we hear it from the doctors themselves,” she added.
De Lima said while the doctors had already appeared before the Pasay RTC, their testimony was “limited.”
“I think they were only asked if (Arroyo) needs continuing confinement. The issue in the Supreme Court is different. Their testimony would let the justices understand that I denied her (travel request) with good reasons,” she said.
In its urgent motion on Nov. 23, the OSG argued that it was important for Arroyo’s doctors to inform the justices of her actual physical condition in order to help them decide on her pending motion challenging DOJ Circular No. 41.
The circular, issued during Arroyo’s presidency, authorizes the justice secretary to issue watch-list and hold-departure orders on persons facing criminal investigation.
Doctors Mario Ver, Juliet Gopez-Cervantes and Roberto Mirasol, all resident physicians of St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City, were asked to attend the oral arguments.
De Lima also asked the high court to issue a subpoena directing the doctors to submit Arroyo’s latest medical abstract.
According to the DOJ petition, determining Arroyo’s state of health will put to rest “lingering questions as to whether (her) current condition places her life in danger, thereby necessitating her travel abroad.”
“In fact, during the oral arguments, a proposition was presented as to whether (putting Arroyo on the) watch list… impaired not only her right to travel, but her right to life as well,” the petition read in part.
But Estelito Mendoza, Arroyo’s lawyer, argued that the doctors’ testimony would be irrelevant to the debate on the constitutionality of the watch-list order and the DOJ circular.