WHAT’S THE RUSH?

In a country where court decisions, including Temporary Restraining Orders, are routinely challenged with Motions for Reconsideration, and the words "final and executory" are only as good as the last appeal, we are not at all surprised that the Department of Justice stood pat in keeping the former first couple under a Watch List Order. After all, the DOJ has not received the official copy of the Supreme Court ruling and therefore it cannot be considered in effect. And DOJ has the right to exhaust all remedies, particularly the filing of an MR.

But the bigger question, to echo DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima, is "why the rush?"

Certainly, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's condition is not life-threatening. Even her doctors tacitly admit it. Are the Arroyos so afraid that their window of opportunity to leave the country may close when the sun rises tomorrow? It is becoming more evident that their reasons for leaving the country in such haste may be other than getting medical treatment.

For sure, the legal and constitutional ramifications of this standoff between the executive and the judiciary will be debated as nauseam by legal luminaries and regular folk. Whichever way these arguments go, the Black and White Movement hopes that in the end, justice prevails and the Arroyos will be held accountable. -- END