On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, saying she had not received the TRO, directed immigration authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to stop Arroyo and her entourage from boarding a plane bound for Singapore.
De Lima wanted to keep the Arroyos in the country to make them stand trial for electoral fraud and plunder. She said on Tuesday she could not implement the TRO without an official copy of the SC order.
“My directive stays,” she told reporters yesterday in an ambush interview after being given an official copy of the TRO at 8:30 am.
Chief Justice Renato Corona, meanwhile, called for a special full court session tomorrow at 11 a.m. to resolve a motion of the Arroyo camp for the rescheduling of oral arguments on a petition contesting the constitutionality of the watchlist order.
The Arroyos had petitioned for a TRO on their inclusion in the DOJ watchlist, citing their constitutional right to travel in the absence of formal charges against them in court.
Continue Reading at The Philippine Star
