By Cynthia D. Balana, Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Sunday, November 6th, 2011
Sticking to its guns, Malacañang on Saturday challenged critics assailing the travel ban on former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to go to the courts.
Secretary Edwin Lacierda, President Benigno Aquino III’s spokesperson, brushed aside House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman’s legal opinion that the government had no right to prevent Arroyo from going abroad to seek medical treatment, saying it was a single opinion from a lawyer.
“That’s Congressman Lagman’s legal opinion and that can be better ventilated if a case is filed. Right now, there is no case filed so it’s our legal opinion against the legal opinion of some other people. So we have as many legal opinions as there are lawyers in this country,†Lacierda said over government-run radio station dzRB.
Told that Lagman had invoked the Constitution’s Bill of Rights in bolstering the position of the Arroyo camp, Lacierda replied that the government had its own basis for rejecting the former president’s bid to travel abroad.
“Again, that’s a legal opinion that was posed by Congressman Lagman,†Lacierda said.
He then suggested that the lawmaker was a lackey of Arroyo’s. “Obviously (Justice) Secretary Leila de Lima has a position, bearing with her a memorandum circular issued by Congressman Lagman’s patron,†Lacierda said.
Lacierda was referring to a Department of Justice circular, issued during Arroyo’s administration, listing the requirements for issuing a hold departure order against people facing criminal complaints.
De Lima last week put off for next week her decision on whether to allow Arroyo to travel abroad after she was told by Health Secretary Enrique Ona that there was no urgency in deciding on the matter.
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