By Edu Punay (The Philippine Star) - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima apologized to former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo yesterday after being misled into ordering an investigation into his flight to Hong Kong last weekend.
Lawyer Inocencio Ferrer had demanded that she apologize to his client and the public for making a hasty decision to place Arroyo on the watchlist and for not verifying if special treatment was indeed given him at the airport.
“Having verified from Bureau of Immigration about an hour ago that indeed former FG Mike Arroyo went thru the Immigration counter, I humbly apologize to him, in behalf of BI for apparently giving me an erroneous info yesterday and/or for committing certain lapses,” the justice secretary said in a text message to reporters at 5 p.m.
It was the first time the justice secretary of the Aquino administration made a public apology after 13 months in office.
After her apology, De Lima said the investigation would proceed – but no longer on Mr. Arroyo’s flight.
“I still want to know from BI the true cause for the wrong info. The matter is now under investigation, particularly the immigration officer who processed FG’s documents,” she stressed.
Earlier in the day, De Lima directed Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David to determine why Arroyo was able to leave the country purportedly without undergoing proper procedure in the airport.
She ordered yesterday an investigation into what she said could be irregular flight of the former first gentleman to Hong Kong over the weekend.
“It appears that he did not pass through Immigration. Somebody facilitated the processing of his documents. I directed Commissioner David to investigate the matter,” she said.
However, Ferrer denounced the “oppressive act” of the justice secretary placing his client in the watchlist.
“How can a lawyer, a former human rights advocate, hastily issue such an order while denying my client an opportunity to submit a comment or opposition to such request?” he said.
De Lima revealed that her office checked with the BI and found out through a flight manifest that Mr. Arroyo left the country last Sunday, July 31, via Cathay Pacific.
“But what is puzzling is that he is not in the BI database. This means he did not pass through immigration and somebody else facilitated the processing of documents. I called Commissioner David and even he was surprised,” she said.
The justice secretary said she specifically told the BI chief to “dig deeper and determine if it’s just a lapse of BI personnel of if there’s anything more to it.”
She stressed that she does not mind if Arroyo was given special treatment at the airport – especially since he is a high-profile personality and reportedly has a health problem.
“But what I can’t understand is why the papers were not processed. It should be in the database. So what happened there?” she added.
The investigation, she said, would start with the BI personnel who assisted and facilitated the flight.
She confirmed also that there was apparently an erroneous record in the manifest, where Mr. Arroyo’s surname was misspelled with a single “r” or just “Aroyo.” She said this should also be looked into.
BI officials, however, clarified that verification of their records shows that Mr. Arroyo indeed left on July 31, but initially went undetected because his surname was misspelled.
BI spokesperson lawyer Ma. Antonette Bucasas-Mangrobang said a blunder reportedly committed by an Immigration Officer (IO) assigned at Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) was the reason why, at first glance, the name of Arroyo did not appear in their records.
Mangrobang explained that one of their IOs misspelled the surname of the former first gentleman, using a single “R” instead of two. Thus when they searched for his travel records, there was no record showing that he left for Hong Kong.
“To be candid about it, there is no reason why he should not be allowed to travel because at that time (July 31), there was no watchlist order issued against him. So he could depart from the country,” she said.
The DOJ issued an order placing Arroyo and his bookkeeper Rowena del Rosario in the BI’s watchlist.
FG lawyer: Travel is a constitutional right
Ferrer said the watchlist order was a violation of his client’s right to due process, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. He said they are considering the possibility of questioning De Lima’s order before the Supreme Court.
He also hit the justice secretary for saying that Arroyo did not pass through immigration, showing reporters a photocopy of a page from his client’s passport, which shows that the BI stamped it when he left.
“He lined up just like the other passengers. The DOJ could have easily verified if he was given special treatment by just asking the guards or verifying from the video footage. She (De Lima) could have also asked her staff to check if Mr. Arroyo was indeed given special treatment (at the airport),” he said.
Ferrer said Arroyo is still in Hong Kong waiting for the results of tests done on him, including a blood test and a stress test, and will return on Monday.
He will also attend the Senate inquiry on the alleged anomalous sale of helicopters to the Philippine National Police.
In a chance interview at the Marco Polo Hotel in Hong Kong where he was staying, Arroyo gave assurance that he will return to the country on Monday.
“What hiding? I went to my doctors. He will know (that) I will return to Manila,” Arroyo said in Filipino in reaction to Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano’s earlier allegation that he would “go TNT (tago ng tago or in hiding) in Hong Kong.”
Arroyo has completed his checkups with a neurosurgeon and cardiologist who advised him to reduce stress and undergo angiogram once every two years.
Ferrer explained that Arroyo was supposed to have his medical checkup in Hong Kong last week but due to the emergency surgery on former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last Friday at St. Luke’s Medical Center, he stayed with his wife until he was assured of her stable condition.
“The first gentleman suffers from a life-threatening medical condition known as dissecting aortic aneurysm, a very serious heart ailment,” he said.
Ferrer said Mr. Arroyo is not in hiding and there is no reason for him to do so.
“He wants to be with his wife, children and grandchildren,” he said, adding that at the time of his trip to Hong Kong, there was no legal prohibition for him to travel abroad.
“It is unfair to interpret the attendance to his health to evasion of the Senate inquiry,” he said, emphasizing that the Arroyos did not own the controversial helicopter currently being investigated by the Senate.
No evading Senate inquiry
Meanwhile, senators Cayetano and Franklin Drilon said the Senate will have to verify through its own doctor if Arroyo is healthy enough to face the Blue Ribbon committee.
Both senators agreed that the former first gentleman cannot merely invoke health reasons in a bid to evade the hearings.
Cayetano said Arroyo should attend the hearings and stop saying that he would answer the allegations in the right venue or the proper legal process.
“The Senate investigation is part of the legal process and is a correct venue. His health is always a priority and we should respect that and pray for him when he does need medical care but I am wondering why he went to Hong Kong right now when he used to go to St. Luke’s during medical emergencies,” he said.
On claims by Arroyo’s lawyer that there were no legal documents that would trace the two Raven 44 helicopters to him, Cayetano noted how shrewd a person he was in transacting deals with the government.
“We never said that he was stupid. And there have been many allegations against the first gentleman and the Arroyo family that they were corrupt, but not that they were stupid,” he added, noting how the first gentleman cleverly hid a paper trail against him regarding this transaction.
Cayetano, along with Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who exposed the anomalous purchase of the helicopters, said they expect Arroyo to deny or lie with regard to ownership of the choppers.
“We will find out how he can deny when confronted with witnesses and the documents we have gathered so far,” Lacson said, adding that he also expects Arroyo to invoke his right against self-incrimination and right to remain silent.
However, he said these rights are not absolute and the committee would have the power to decide if the invocation is valid and proper under the circumstances. –With reports from Mike Frialde, Carina Roncesvalles, Paolo Romero, Evelyn Macairan, Christina Mendez, Marvin Sy, Rudy Santos
