MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Panfilo Lacson now wants the Supreme Court to resolve the issue of whether or not the Department of Justice has the authority to prevent former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from leaving the country.
Lacson, a staunch critic of the former president, insisted that as far as he is concerned, the government should only monitor, not prevent, any person placed under its watch list order (WLO).
“It is best that this issue be questioned before the Supreme Court to once and for all settle whether the interpretation of the WLO’s implementation is constitutional or not,’ he said in a mixed English and Tagalog text message on Thursday.
“Sa aking opinion ay monitoring lang dapat kung saan ang destinations ang sakop nito at hindi pagpigil sa paglabas ng bansa (In my opinion, WLO should only cover monitoring of where the person covered by such should be going but not in preventing him or her from leaving the country). But it is only the Supreme Court who can appropriately interpret it,” he added.
Lacson has expressed no objection to Arroyo’s plan to seek medical treatment abroad.
Arroyo has been facing several criminal charges for alleged irregularities she committed when she was in Malacanang.
But Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, an administration ally, said he would presume regularity on the part of the DOJ though he pointed out that there are legal remedies available for the Arroyo camp.
“We will have to presume regularity on the part of the DOJ. They have available legal remedies to question the DOJ order,” Pangilinan said in a separate text message.
“In the meantime, the rule must apply to everyone regardless of rank or stature in society,” he said.