Lagman: No basis to place Arroyo under travel watch list

The Justice Department erred when it placed former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the Immigration watch list, House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman said Wednesday. "I think it is wrong because these are all allegations. It is not even filed before the courts. I think the prosecutorial process is in the initial stage. It is yet unclear," Lagman said at a press briefing. He added that there is no need to monitor Mrs. Arroyo’s travel plans since there is no indication that the Pampanga lawmaker wants to flee from the charges filed against her. "There is no evidence of flight from the jurisdiction of this country. One of the reasons to issue a hold departure order is if the person is a fugitive from justice. It is not the case," Lagman said. On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered the Bureau of Immigration to place Mrs. Arroyo on its watch list. This means the former Philippine leader will have to secure a permit from the DOJ first before she will be allowed to go abroad. The watch list order was issued on the basis that Mrs. Arroyo has three plunder complaints against her pending before the DOJ, De Lima said. The watch list order against Mrs. Arroyo is effective for 60 days. Pendency of cases On Wednesday, De Lima maintained that she issued the watch list order against Mrs. Arroyo based on the "pendency" of the former President’s three plunder charges before the DOJ. “Because of the pendency of the cases under preliminary investigation sa department namin, I decided to exercise my motu proprio powers of issuing a watch list order against the former President," she said. She added a department circular issued in May last year gave the DOJ chief the power to issue a watch list order. "I was not the one who issued that circular," she said. De Lima was at the House of Representatives on Wednesday to attend a hearing on the proposed budget of her department. Mrs. Arroyo is currently facing three plunder charges before the DOJ, accusing her of involvement in the anomalous sale of an airport property in Iloilo; misuse of Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) funds, and diversion of fertilizer funds to her campaign kitty in 2004. DOJ shouldn’t bar foreign travel But Lagman said that it is likely the DOJ’s watch list order on Arroyo "would graduate" to a hold departure order. "If that happens, it will be really without due process," he said. The opposition leader said he plans to file a House bill to strip off the DOJ and the Office of the President’s power to bar people accused in certain cases from foreign travel. "I believe it should be done by the proper court in due process. A due process should be given to the citizen or an alien for that matter," he said. He added that the planned measure will prevent Filipinos’ right to travel and the right to the presumption of innocence. — RSJ, GMA News