Don't dismiss petitions vs Proclamation 1017, SC told

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Don't dismiss petitions vs Proclamation 1017, SC told
First posted 01:18pm (Mla time) Mar 06, 2006
By Tetch Torres

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The Council for Defense of Liberties (CODAL), which will file a manifestation, along with legislators at the House of Representatives, led by Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero, is apprehensive that with the lifting of the state of emergency, the high court will declare the case moot and academic.

They had filed a motion questioning the legality of Proclamation 1017, which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued on February 24, after a failed attempt to oust her by an alleged conspiracy of military "adventurists," communist rebels, and civilians.

CODAL spokesman Lawyer Neri Colmenares said they would ask the Supreme Court to clarify the scope of the President's powers in a state of emergency.

"We want to know if the President can execute warrantless arrests, if she can authorize raids on media offices or if the Bill of Rights can be disregarded in times of a state of emergency," Colmenares said.

"We do not expect it [the high court] to rule as unconstitutional [but] we want something categorical," he added, noting that the high court has upheld Arroyo's proclamation of a state of rebellion in 2003 when a band of junior officers and soldiers staged a shortlived mutiny in an attempt to oust her.

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