‘Diamond Queen’ scores legal points vs govt

Sui Ting Alpha Kwow, also known as the “Diamond Queen," has scored legal points against the government. This was after the Manila Regional Trial Court prevented the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) from performing its functions and claiming authority under Executive Order 624 for 20 days. In a three-page order, Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. of the Manila RTC branch 26 issued a 20-day temporary restraining order on the implementation EO 624 for allegedly being unconstitutional and a duplication of the functions of the Bureau of Customs (BOC). “After careful evaluation of the petition… this Court is convinced that the petitioner [Kwok] has satisfied the legal requirement entitling them to the issuance of a TRO," the court said. The order was based on the complaint of Kwok, a Chinese-born British national linked to the alleged smuggling of some P500 million worth of diamonds and other jewelry items into the country last August. Kwok, through her lawyer Bonifacio Alentajan, had called for PASG’s abolition after she alleged in her petition that the raid conducted by the group in her condominium last Aug. 18 was illegal. Named respondents in the suit were Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and PASG Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr. Pampilo said petitioner will suffer “great and irreparable injury" unless a TRO is issued. “Wherefore, the application for TRO is hereby granted. The respondents, their deputies and all other persons are hereby enjoined from claiming authority under them from implementing EO 624 for 20 days," the court said. Pampilo directed Kwok to post a bond in the amount of P2 million to cover for whatever injury that may be incurred to PASG “if proven afterward that the writ should not have been issued." A hearing on the preliminary injunction was set on December 3, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. Kwok claimed that the provisions of EO 624 are grossly unconstitutional, illegal and unlawful, and have become a source of excessive abuses and official lawlessness. Petitioner said the creation of PASG violates the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers, being contrary to the provisions of the Tariff and Customs Code, and duplicates the powers and function of the work of the BOC, particularly in curbing smuggling in the country. Aside from the alleged illegal arrest of Kwok and seizure of her properties, series of complaints were also cited against PASG, such as the manifesto of the Alliance of Customs Brokers, Truckers, and Importers Organization Nationwide Action for the Abolition of the anti-smuggling unit. - GMANews.TV