Mike Arroyo asks SC to void DOJ watch list order against him

(Updated 5:33 p.m.) Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo on Friday challenged before the Supreme Court the legality of the Department of Justice's order to place him on the Bureau of Immigration's watch list. Through his lawyers, Mr. Arroyo filed a 19-page petition asking the SC to immediately issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent the enforcement of the watch list order. He also said the high court should should also void the order for being unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters, lawyer Inocencio Ferrer Jr. said the watch list order, as well as the DOJ circular authorizing the Justice chief to issue such order, violated Mr. Arroyo's constitutional rights to travel, to due process, and to equal protection. "After submission of requisite pleadings and/or memoranda, judgment be rendered declaring the unconstitutionality, illegality, nullity of Watchlist Order No. 2011-410 dated August 4, 2011... and Department of Justice Circular No. 41," Mr. Arroyo's petition read. Mr. Arroyo likewise said his petition should be set for oral arguments "so that all the issues, of constitutional importance, be properly ventilated and debated upon." An individual placed on the Immigration watch list must first ask the DOJ to lift the order before he or she can travel abroad. The person must also present the government-issued clearance before leaving the country. It is less restrictive than a hold departure order, which automatically bars an individual from leaving the country. DOJ watch list order As of this posting, GMA News Online is still trying to reach Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for her comment. De Lima earlier said that Mr. Arroyo has the prerogative to question the watch list order, which the Justice chief issued Thursday last week. De Lima made such move in response to a request sent by Senate blue ribbon committee chair Sen. Teofisto Guingona III. The Senate panel is looking into the Philippine National Police's acquisition of multi-million peso secondhand helicopters in 2009. Mr. Arroyo was said to be the previous owner of two choppers that were sold as brand new to the PNP. The husband of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has since denied owning the controversial helicopters. Constitutional rights violated Upon returning from Hong Kong last Monday, Mr. Arroyo vowed to challenge the issuance of a watch list order against him — a move he carried out on Friday. In his petition, the former First Gentleman said that the watch list order violated his constitutional right to travel, to due process, and to the equal protection of laws. "The request to place petitioner on a watch list and the compliance therewith by the Secretary of Justice clearly show a biased and ill-motivated behavior. Indeed, it is an implementation of a supposed DOJ circular with an evial eye and uneven hand," he added. He then noted that De Lima issued the watch list order on the same day that the Senate blue ribbon committee sent a letter requesting her to issue a watch list order against him and his reported bookkeeper, Rowena del Rosario. "At any rate, respondent De Lima, on the same day, August 4, 2011, with such blinding speed and apparently not having read yet the transcript of stenographic notes of the said hearing, issued the watch list order, placing petitioner in the watch list of the Bureau of Immigration,thus impairing the constitutiona right of petitioner to free, unrestarined and unhampered travel to and from the Philippines," the petition said. Right to equal protection of the laws Mr. Arroyo added that the order infringed on his right to the equal protection of the laws, a safeguard provided by the 1987 Constitution. Mr. Arroyo questioned why out of all the witnesses and probable respondents in the Senate inquiry, only he and Del Rosario were placed on the Immigration watch list. "Some individuals implicated in irregularities before the Philippine Senate are placed on the DOJ watch list, while others are not. There is a clear violation of the equal protection clause under the Constitution. More glaringly, some individuals have been recommended, through a Senate Committee Report no less, by a Senate committee for prosecution and yet they are not placed on a watch list," he said. "In contrast, petitioner has not been recommended for prosecution by the Senate committee, and yet, he has already been placed on the DOJ watch list," he added. Right to travel He also said that the issuance of the order is a violation of his constitutional to travel, which can only be impaired "in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law." "As if adding insult to injury, inclusion in a watch list order means that the traveler must first seek the prior permission of the Secretary of Justice before one can exercise his constitutional right to travel or that his travel must be delayed involuntarily. The mere imposition of this requirement upon a hapless citizen, such as petitioner, constitutes a degrading impairment of one's constitutional right to travel," Mr. Arroyo said. He then hit back at De LIma, whom he said does not have the power to decide on a fundamental constitutional right. "Significantly, the watch list order contains pertinent absurdities such as requiring prior permission before petitioner can travel outside the country," his petition added. Right to due process Mr. Arroyo also underscored that there is no pending case against him, and thus, there are no grounds to put him on the Immigration watch list. "It cannot be denied that to be placed on the DOJ watch list implies something derogatory. It implies that the person placed on the watch list has committed something terribly wrong. Indeed, it can enver be said that to be placed on the DOJ watch list is somethng to be prooud of or something to be proclaimed as a badge of honor," the petition read Asked why the Senate blue ribbon committee was not impleaded with the DOJ and the Bureau of Immigration were impleaded among the respondents, Mr. Arroyo's lawyer said that the issuance of the order was still decided by De Lima. — RSJ, GMA News