De Lima to consider extradition issues in deciding on Arroyo travel request

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Thursday said issues on extradition treaties with other countries will be among the factors she would take into account in deciding on former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's request to seek medical treatment abroad. Asked about the possibility of Mrs. Arroyo not coming back if she flies to a country without an extradition treaty with the Philippines, De Lima said: "Yes, I will be considering that." An extradition treaty paves the way for the surrender or transfer of a suspected or convicted criminal from one country to another requesting country seeking to put the person on trial or behind bars. Mrs. Arroyo needs to secure an Allow Departure Order (ADO) from the DOJ before she can leave the Philippines because of the existing watch list order (WLO) on her in connection with three plunder cases slapped against her before the Justice department. House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr recently approved an amended request made by the former president and incumbent Pampanga congresswoman to travel to the United States, Germany, and Switzerland. Belmonte had approved an earlier request but the approval had already lapsed, prompting Arroyo's camp to renew the request. Mrs. Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, meanwhile had been quoted in reports as saying they plan to visit Singapore and Austria to seek other medical experts' advice. Also, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Eduardo Malaya was earlier quoted in reports as saying the Philippines has an existing extradition treaty with at least 10 countries, these are: the US, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, Canada, Micronesia, China, South Korea and Indonesia. Germany, Singapore, and Austria are not among them. De Lima said she has not yet approved Mrs. Arroyo's request for the issuance of an ADO. She said she will decide on the matter either "today or tomorrow [Friday]." The WLO against Mrs. Arroyo is supposed to expire on November 5, but her name will remain on the Immigration watch list a little longer – two months to be exact – after the DOJ issued a new WLO order against her, her husband, and 40 other people being investigated for supposed electoral sabotage in the 2007 mid-term elections. De Lima said she was still "carefully weighing the pros and cons" of issuing an ADO to Mrs. Arroyo to determine if there is indeed an "exceptional circumstance" to warrant her medical treatment abroad. De Lima stressed the importance of all respondents, resource persons, and witnesses to be available when the joint DOJ-Commission on Election preliminary investigation team carries out its probe on supposed poll fraud in the 2004 and 2007 national elections. "Hindi naman araw-araw na may ganito tayong kaso na electoral sabotage na high-officials na ang mga kailangang sumagot at mag-appear sa committee ay biglang mawawala kaya nag-issue tayo ng WLO," she said. The Justice Secretary added that in case she decides to grant Mrs. Arroyo's request, there would be no need for the former president to request a separate one for the newly issued WLOs. "That [ADO] can cover all the WLOs na kasi it would be cumbersome na magfa-file uli ng another request dahil lang may bagong WLO," she said. As for Mr. Arroyo, who plans to accompany his wife abroad, De Lima said he needs to separately file an ADO request. "But right now, he does not have such a request," De Lima added. — LBG, GMA News