MANILA, Philippines–After the issuance of an arrest warrant by a Pasay City regional trial court in record-time against former President and Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her trial for electoral sabotage is anticipated to proceed at a snail’s pace.
When asked how long the trial would take, Pasay City RTC branch 112 clerk and lawyer Joel Pelicano asked back, “How long did it take for a former president to be tried by the Sandiganbayan?” He was referring to President Joseph Estrada, who was previously tried and convicted of plunder by the anti-graft court.
Speaking to reporters on Monday after the first hearing on the case filed against Arroyo, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and former Commission on Elections (Comelec) official Lintang Bedol, Pelicano pointed out that Estrada’s trial may be used to measure the duration of Arroyo’s trial.
“Because of the reason that she has brilliant lawyers who may file lots of motions that could even reach the Supreme Court so we do not expect that in one or two years the case can be decided. There may be a lot of legal maneuverings, they are excellent lawyers,” Pelicano pointed out.
He stressed, “The court will decide this case as soon as everything has been submitted or filed to the court because the court has also to have time to evaluate and study the case so the court can issue a judicial resolution of all issues surrounding the case.”
Pelicano assured that there was no irregularity in the issuance of an arrest warrant against the three accused four hours after the case of electoral sabotage was filed.
“All the court should do upon receipt of the information together with the annexes is to evaluate and determine the existence of probable cause. The court evaluated and found the existence of probable cause so the issuance of a warrant of arrest is just a matter of duty,” he explained.
He was quick to add that Pasay RTC branch 112 Judge Jesus Mupas even took a long time in issuing the warrant. “In evaluation, that (four hours) is even considered slow particularly for exceptional judges because all that has to be done is to read the information, the resolution of the DOJ (Department of Justice)-Comelec panel and the affidavits.”
Pelicano said that an arrest warrant could be issued by a brilliant judge in half an hour upon the filing of the information.
He clarified that with the court’s approval of a temporary hospital arrest for Arroyo, she cannot be allowed to go anywhere else.
“If the former president wants to go to her house, they have to file a motion before the court for the court to evaluate if it could be allowed,” he pointed out.
Asked a theoretical question on what if Arroyo bails from the hospital, Pasay City police deputy chief Supt. Samuel Turla raised an objection saying it was not even a possibility. “We will not allow that… We will always abide by the order of the court.”
Pelicano further said that the court does not see any need to add security considering the high-profile case it is handling. “As far as we are concerned, considering that this is just a normal judicial process, I do not see any reason to add security because all parties are friendly. All they are fighting for are legal issues so there is no problem about security. We are safe.”