Mike Arroyo to sue DOJ

Former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo will challenge in court the Department of Justice’s inclusion of his name on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) watch list, saying that the action was oppressive and violated his constitutional right to travel.

This was revealed by Inocencio Ferrer, Arroyo’s lawyer, after learning that the order to place his client as well as Arroyo’s secretary, Rowena del Rosario, on the watch list was made by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Friday.

On that day, De Lima apologized to Arroyo for her earlier claim that he did not go through the regular immigration process when he left the country for Hong Kong early last week.

The BI had informed De Lima that Arroyo’s name did not appear on its list of outbound travellers. Later it discovered that Arroyo’s name had been misspelled by a BI airport officer and that he had lined up at the immigration counter before leaving.

“We believe this watch list order is an act of oppression against Mr. Arroyo as there is no criminal case filed against him nor is he a fugitive from the law,” Ferrer said.

“Mr. Arroyo is now being treated like a criminal without being afforded his right to due process and his right to be presumed innocent,” he said.

He said Arroyo was not avoiding a Senate inquiry and was scheduled to return on Monday.

“As his legal counsel, we will be taking the appropriate legal action to protect the rights of our client,” he added.

Ferrer said that placing Arroyo on the watch list was unfair and oppressive because it would require that he get prior clearance from the justice secretary before he could travel. Cynthia D. Balana