Batas Mauricio
THE text message said it all, actually. It said, using more formally-spelled words: “Good afternoon Madam Vice President. Mayor Rody Duterte through Bong Go asked me to relay to you his instruction for you to desist from attending all Cabinet meetings starting this Monday, December 05, 2 p.m. Thank you.”
The intent of President Duterte was clear: Vice President Leni Robredo was being fired from her Cabinet position, effective Dec. 5, so she will no longer be allowed to attend all Cabinet meetings, starting at 2 pm of that day. Although couched in legalities, the message was clear: Robredo had been fired from her appointed position under the Duterte government, effective upon her receipt of the text message.
Her resignation on Sunday, Dec. 4, was therefore totally unnecessary and irrelevant. At the time that she allegedly resigned, Robredo was no longer a Cabinet secretary. There was no longer any position that she could resign from. She had been thrown out much earlier than her resignation. And nothing can change that anymore!
Duterte’s firing of Robredo took a long time coming, but Robredo brought it upon herself, really. The fact was that, when she accepted the Cabinet position which Duterte offered her, she was bound by each and every policy, and each and every direction, that the Duterte government undertook, even if she did not agree with those policies and directions.
As a member of the Cabinet, it was the duty of Robredo not only to preserve the unity of that Cabinet, but more so, to show some respect for the pronouncements of the very official that awarded her a position in that Cabinet, even if she came from a rival political party which showed meanness and foul-play against that official during the campaign for the 2016 elections.
Yet, she showed treachery almost from Day 1 of her appointment. Even when she just barely warmed her seat as housing czar of the Duterte government, she was already hitting the President’s campaign against drugs, and his many decisions on how the government should be ran, including the burial of President Marcos. Clearly, she deserved the fate that has befallen her!
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Many asked me, after reading the news that President Duterte ordered the arrest of international online gambling operator Jack Lam and Director General Ronaldo Dela Rosa of the Philippine National Police included in the presidential arrest order former General Wally Sombero, if anyone, whether foreigner or Filipino, could be arrested even without charges having been filed against them beforehand.
My answer is, yes, any person can be arrested even if no charges have been filed against them yet, under the three conditions for warrantless arrests that the Rules of Court of the Philippines provides. These three conditions are spelled out under Section 5, Rule 113, of the Rules.
In gist, warrantless arrests can be carried out against someone who is in the act of committing a crime, or who had just committed a crime and the person effecting the arrest had personal knowledge showing that the person he intended to arrest indeed carried out the offense. The other situation is, if the person to be arrested is an escapee who bolted jail.
In the case of Lam and Sombero, their arrest could be premised on the crime of economic sabotage, as Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre is claiming before mediamen. Economic sabotage could be considered as a continuing crime—which means that, the act which is classified as economic sabotage has not stopped and is continuing up to now.
Since the act of economic sabotage is continuing, it is as if Jack Lam and Wally Sombero are still committing a crime, so that they could be arrested anytime, not just by law enforcement authorities, but by any other citizen of our country. The President’s order of arrest against the gambling operator and the arrest order against Sombero issued by Gen. dela Rosa had the effect of making them “wanted persons”.
But being arrested should be the least of Jack Lam’s worries at this point. He should be more worried about the possibility of suffering the fate of businessman Roberto Ongpin, whose online gaming company, got closed after its franchise was revoked. Jack Lam’s gambling franchises could be revoked, too, causing his casinos to close shop!
E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com
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