De Lima to meet with Robredo regarding Arroyo mugshots

MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Wednesday told reporters that she will be meeting with Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo regarding the “leaked” mug shots of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is accused of electoral sabotage and is under hospital arrest at St. Luke’s in Taguig.

In an interview on the sidelines of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 75th anniversary, De Lima admitted that she did not know whether the photos were the real pictures taken by the police and leaked or whether their release was prohibited or not.

“I still have to talk with Secretary Robredo. The CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) were the ones who served the warrant and undertook the process in the [hospital] room. I’ll ask what the plan was and what’s their position: should the photos have been released and should court orders allowing the release be waited for?” she said, in Filipino.

She added that to her knowledge, the PNP position was that it was up to the Pasay court hearing the electoral sabotage case to decide whether the mug shots could be shown publicly or not.

Asked whether Arroyo’s right to privacy was breached, she said that though the congresswoman’s camp was invoking that right, “there is also the right of people to see that there is no special treatment and the former President went through the proper processing.”