Filing of poll sabotage case vs Arroyo ‘illegal’

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
THE lawyer of Gloria Arroyo argued Tuesday that the filing of election sabotage case against the former President is illegal because the body hearing the case is unconstitutional.
Arroyo’s counsel Benjamin Santos said during Tuesday’s oral arguments at the Supreme Court that the resulting actions of the joint Department of Justice (DOJ) and Commission on Elections (Comelec) panel, as well as the subsequent filing of criminal charges against Arroyo before the Pasay Regional Trial Court (RTC) are likewise invalid, including her arrest, in gross violation of the former President’s rights.
The DOJ-Comelec panel has been conducting preliminary investigation on alleged manipulation of votes supposedly masterminded by Arroyo in 2007.
Santos also claimed that Resolution 9299, referring to the indictment of Arroyo, “opened wide the door, not just a mere aperture, for an incursion into the domain of independence of the Comelec.”
He said the Comelec had been “too accommodating in surrendering its superiority” by agreeing to be a mere adjunct of the prosecution arm of the executive branch.
The lawyer said the poll body became an “instrument of oppression” through the failure of its chairman Sixto Brillantes to inhibit from the case.
Brillantes was the lawyer for 2004 presidential contender Fernando Poe Jr. who, in various media interviews, attested to alleged massive cheating in the presidential polls.
Santos also told the justices that there was apparent haste in the filing of the case against Arroyo at the Pasay RTC in a bid to arrest her planned travel abroad to seek medical treatment for her hypoparathyroidism and metabolic bone mineral disorder.
“The speed of the joint investigation is rather unusual. Speed is not a measure of justice,” he said.
Santos said the former President was not given ample opportunity to answer the poll fraud charges when the joint panel immediately denied their motion seeking more time to submit counter-affidavit.
He noted that only after two hearings, the joint DOJ-Comelec concluded the preliminary investigation last November 14 and approved the filing of case in court against Arroyo, who is now a Pampanga representative, two days after.
Thus, the joint panel’s proceedings cannot be considered impartial and fair since it “acted as law enforcers, who conducted the criminal investigation, gathered evidence, and thereafter ordered the filing of the complaints, and, at the same time, authorized preliminary investigation based on the complaints they caused to be filed.”
Former Elections chair Benjamin Abalos’ lawyer Brigido Dulay also argued Tuesday that the joint preliminary investigation has violated the equal protection clause in section 1 of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution since it singles out certain persons and incidents only involving the 2004 and 2007 polls.
He said the DOJ and Comelec have concurrent jurisdiction on investigation of poll fraud charges under Republic Act (RA) 9369, so there was really no need for a joint probe.
He said the creation of the panel was in line with the “scheme” of the Aquino a ministration to persecute officials of the Arroyo administration.
“Even before the panel was created, there was already a tailor-fit move to take in these witnesses and use their testimonies to file a case against petitioner for electoral sabotage,” he said.
He cited previous pronouncements of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Brillantes that would prove the panel had already prejudged the case.
“The public pronouncement by executive officials, the DOJ head, and the Commission on Elections negates the possibility that the joint committee will be fair and impartial to the petitioner,” he said.
The Supreme Court then required Dulay to submit news clippings stating the supposed pronouncements of the two government officials.
Chief Justice Renato Corona ordered the continuation of the oral arguments on Thursday, with the Office of the Solicitor General defending the legality of the DOJ-Comelec panel.
Afterwards, the SC is set to rule on the prayer of petitioners for issuance of a temporary restraining order that could effectively suspend the arrest of Arroyo. (JCV/Sunnex)
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/11/30/filing-poll-sabotage-case-vs-arroyo-illegal-193169

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