Solon says MJ cannot be arrested

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said yesterday Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez, who is facing extradition to the United States, cannot be arrested until the current session of Congress ends in June next year.

If the Supreme Court upholds its previous ruling canceling Jimenez’s bail bond and the lower court orders his arrest, Gonzales said he believes his colleague from Manila would be protected by his constitutional immunity from arrest.

The House leader, who is a lawyer, said under the Constitution, a member of Congress facing a criminal case cannot be arrested during the session of the legislature if the penalty for his supposed offense is "not more than six years."

"If he cannot be arrested in a criminal proceeding, more so in an extradition case which is administrative in nature. Whether you hate Jimenez or you love him, if we set aside the emotional aspect, the guy can invoke his constitutional immunity," he said.

He added that the "session" the Constitution refers to is the "year-long regular session of Congress," which starts on the fourth Monday of July and ends 30 days before the next session.

In the case of the current second regular session, according to the congressional calendar, it will end on June 6, 2003.

Gonzales said the difficulty in the Jimenez case "is that it is precedent-setting."

"As far as I can remember, no other member of Congress has been in a similar predicament as Congressman Jimenez," he said.

He said the comparable cases could be those of former Agusan del Sur Rep. Ceferino Paredes and former Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who had been ordered arrested by the Sandiganbayan.

However, the Senate, in the case of Santiago, and the House, in Paredes’ case, did not carry out the arrest order, he added. – Jess Diaz