Lawyers Condemn Use of Legal Processes to Cover Up Crimes

The Justice Secretary has been known to have sworn loyalty to President Arroyo and have in fact been accused by the Supreme Court of ‘prostituting’ his office to persecute critiques of the President. There is no chance that the DOJ will genuinely prosecute those involved in the ZTE scam and bringing a complaint before them is another legal trap.

Both the DOJ and the Ombudsman have been compromised and are perceived to have sworn loyalty to Pres. Arroyo and are not expected to rule with independence and integrity in any criminal complaint against Pres. Arroyo.

Secondly, the filing of a complaint in court is a trap because if filed the Pres. Arroyo can immediately ask for its dismissal on the ground that Pres. Arroyo enjoys immunity from suit. Government lawyers sought the dismissal of the case against Pres. Arroyo in the complaint filed by former Senator Jovito Salonga with the Ombudsman and the Amparo petition filed for Jun Lozada in the Court of Appeals. It is unfortunate that many local government officials parrot the ‘bring it to the court’ line knowing full well that no case in court will prosper due to the president’s immunity from suit. Pres. Arroyo has not waived her immunity from suit so that she can be investigated and prosecuted in independent tribunals for her involvement in various violations of the laws and the Constitution. Since courts are expected to declare the president immune from suit it is hypocritical for Malacanang to call for the filing of the cases in court.

Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking is Void

The challenge of Malacanang to bring the issue on the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking on the Spratlys- Kalayaan Islands issue to court is of no value unless Pres. Arroyo allows Sec. Neri to testify and the negotiations leading to the JMSU, including the Agreement itself, is made transparent and publicly submitted to the Senate investigation.

The JMSU is void if signed by Pres. Arroyo and the Chinese government in consideration of fraudulent transactions in the various projects and loan agreements involving Chinese companies. In fact, due to the fraudulent transactions accompanying the loan agreements, the Philippine has every right to demand the voidance even of the loans itself should fraud be proved between the two parties. The Filipino people should not be made to pay for loans, a large portion of which went to private individuals with the knowledge of the contracting parties. This is no deferent from the fraud tainted behest loans during the time of Pres. Marcos such as the Bataan Nuclear Plant.

Absence of Presidential Immunity

Despite claims by Pres. Arroyo to presidential immunity, however, NUPL asserts that the claim to presidential immunity no longer has the similar constitutional sanction under the 1973 Constitution and that the courts should not interpret the same as shielding the president from any form of accountability. Unlike the 1973 Constitution which contains a provision expressly granting the President immunity from suit, the 1987 Constitution no longer contains such a provision, a sign that the Constitution no longer affords her the absolute immunity that Pres. Marcos had. Under international law, the head of state cannot claim immunity for unofficial acts and the commission of crimes, as stated in Article 27 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court under which the Philippines is a signatory: