Arroyo’s legal counsels have stressed that Philippine law precludes the courts from considering a range of factors that must, under worldwide human rights law, be taken into account in deciding whether pre-trial detention is necessary.
Advertisement
Refuting the position of a United Nations panel that assailed the continued detention of the ailing Mrs. Arroyo, De Lima said the former President is still facing a plunder case — a non-bailable offense – involving alleged irregularities in the funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
He said that despite Arroyo experiencing a new health concern, the congresswoman is seeking reelection as an answer for local officials’ clamor for her to run. Clooney was responsible in calling worldwide attention on the plight of Arroyo by filing a complaint against President Aquino and the Philippine government before the UN. Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the government will prepare an appropriate response to the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which found Arroyo’s hospital detention as arbitrary and violative of the global law on human rights.
Formerly Amal Alamuddin until she married actor George Clooney, the London-based lawyer specializes in global law, human rights, extradition and criminal law.
It urged the Philippine government to allow Mrs Arroyo to post bail and accord her “an enforceable right to compensation… for the deprivation of liberty which already occurred”.
If she wins, it will be her last term as representative of Pampanga’s second district. “The Philippine government, or any worldwide body for that matter, cannot interfere nor influence the course of an independent judicial proceeding”, he added.
“They (the members of the United Nations panel) should understand what is provided in our Constitution and Rules of Court”, she said in a press conference.
Senate President Franklin Drilon said Arroyo was being tried according to Philippine laws.
He also noted that the case was obviously weak and that Arroyo was being singled out because all of her corespondents had been granted bail.
Advertisement
Arroyo, who is reportedly suffering degenerative diseases of the bones and cartilage of the neck, is presently in hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC).
