MANILA, Philippines – In a dramatic airport showdown, President Benigno Aquino III’s government stopped former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo from boarding a Hong Kong-bound plane and leaving the country Tuesday night, despite a Supreme Court order allowing her to seek medical treatment abroad.The wheelchair-bound Arroyo, wearing a neck brace, and her husband were supposed to take a Dragon Air flight leaving for Hong Kong at 8:50 p.m. but immigration officials barred them from taking the flight.
The Arroyos had also booked other flights, including Singapore Airlines, but immigration officials stopped them from getting on any of the planes.
Arroyo’s lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said they would file contempt charges Wednesday against Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and others who stopped the Arroyos from leaving.- Amid chaotic scenes late on Tuesday, airport immigration officials defied the country's top court and blocked Ms. Arroyo from boarding a plane to Hong Kong. Ms. Arroyo's spokeswoman said Wednesday the former president will try to leave again on Thursday – presenting a fresh challenge to current leader President Benigno Aquino III's resolve to ultimately put Ms. Arroyo on trial.
- Mr. Aquino has made combating corruption the cornerstone of his administration and has vowed to chase down high-ranking government officials to ram home his message. The chief target appears to be Ms. Arroyo, and the Philippines' Justice Department is currently investigating Ms. Arroyo for corruption and vote-rigging during her 2001 to 2010 presidency. Ms. Arroyo denies any wrongdoing.
- Ms. Arroyo, 64 years old and now a member of congress, has repeatedly said she needs to travel overseas to seek medical treatment for a bone condition, and on Tuesday the Supreme Court allowed her and her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, to travel abroad.
Ms. Arroyo was diagnosed earlier this year with cervical spondylosis, a degenerative condition affecting cartilage and bones. In a statement issued last week, the Philippine Medical Association said there were many doctors in the Philippines who can treat Ms. Arroyo "competently" and there was no need for her to travel overseas for treatment.
Mr. Aquino, though, the son of late democracy icon Corazon Aquino, appears to have other ideas. His government has described Ms. Arroyo as a flight risk, and after a crisis meeting at Manila's presidential palace later on Tuesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the government would appeal the eight-to-five Supreme Court decision and that it had ordered immigration officials to block Ms. Arroyo's departure in the meantime. If the Philippines allows her to leave, "we would be the laughingstock of the world," Ms. De Lima said.
Ms. Arroyo's lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, vowed on national television Wednesday to slice off one of his own testicles if Ms. Arroyo doesn't return to face the investigation. "That's to emphasize that I'm confident, as my client has told me, that they will return," he said.- The Aquino administration's move potentially puts it on a collision course with the Supreme Court. The court's spokesman, Midas Marquez, already has described the government's actions as amounting to contempt of court, yet the battle could prove useful for Mr. Aquino.
Mr. Aquino's spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, said the government would stand by its decision to prevent the Arroyos leaving the country. "This is all high drama. They want the public to sympathize with them," he said. Mr. Aquino has previously offered to fly foreign doctors to the Philippines to treat his predecessor's condition at the government's expense.Ms. Arroyo's husband, meanwhile, described the government as "mean" and "cruel." "I feel sad. I feel mad. How can they refuse to follow the Supreme Court order? That is tyranny," the Associated Press reported him as saying Tuesday.
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