Guevarra raises ‘serious law enforcement concerns’ after DOJ chief’s travel ban power voided

While he respects the Supreme Court's (SC) ruling, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Wednesday that "serious law enforcement concerns" need attention after the tribunal declared a Justice chief's power to issue travel ban orders unconstitutional.

Guevarra said he will consult with Solicitor General Jose Calida, the government's chief lawyer, on how the Department of Justice (DOJ) will act once it receives a copy of the decision.

"We respect the ruling," said Guevarra in a text message. "There are serious law enforcement concerns that need to be addressed as a result of the SC decision."

Among these concerns is the "possible flight of persons under investigation whose cases have not reached the courts," he explained.

Voting unanimously, the SC on Tuesday struck down as unconstitutional the DOJ's Department Circular No. 41, which grants the Secretary of Justice the authority to issue Hold Departure Orders (HDO), Watch List Orders (WLO), or Allow Departure Orders.

This decision also voids and nullifies any issuance released pursuant to Circular No. 41, including the WLO then-Justice secretary and now Senator Leila de Lima used to bar former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from leaving the country to seek medical treatment in November 2011.

Arroyo, now Pampanga representative, was then facing wide-ranging allegations of corruption and vote-rigging allegedly perpetrated while she was president.

She and her husband, Jose Miguel, questioned De Lima's order at the SC. Former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation Efraim Genuino had separately assailed an HDO issued against him, saying it trespassed on his and his two children's rights to due process.

The Genuinos were then facing plunder charges and graft and malversation complaints at the DOJ.

The SC declared the circular unconstitutional "for being violative of the right to travel under Article III, section 6 of the 1987 Constitution," said SC Public Information Office chief Theodore Te at a press briefing.

"The Court, in interpreting Article III, Section 6, determined that there was no legal basis for Department Circular No. 41 because of the absence of a law authorizing the Secretary of Justice to issue Hold Departure Orders (HDO), Watch List Orders (WLO), or Allow Departure Orders (ADO)," he said. — BM, GMA News