De Lima poses no objections to Arroyo son’s US trip

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has posed no objections to the trip of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s son, Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Representative Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, and his wife Ma. Angela to the US.

She, however, said she would keep the watch-list order on Mikey Arroyo and his wife, Angela in connection with a P73.8-million tax evasion case.

In an ambush interview on Thursday, De Lima said the partylist lawmaker had asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) to lift the watch list order (WLO) after the Court of Tax Appeals granted their request to temporarily lift the hold-departure order against them.

“The DoJ legal staff has denied their request for the lifting of the WLO. In other words, the WLO still exists. But we are allowing them under the same conditions as the court,” De Lima told reporters.

“So we just followed the court,” she added.