NBI to Jimenez: Leave in 48 hours or face arrest
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Reynaldo Wycoco disclosed the arrangements made by the Manila legislator to fly out of the country by tonight at the latest.
"The agreement, as I understood it, is for him to leave either today or tomorrow," Wycoco said yesterday.
He said Jimenez definitely would not be spending Christmas or New Year in the country as the congressman wished because "(the government) would file a new petition for the court to issue a warrant."
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. directed House sergeant-at-arms Bayani Fabic to provide additional security personnel for Jimenez "and to ensure that he departs for the United States as manifested."
De Venecia said he would be held personally responsible if anything untoward happened to Jimenez,
The House leader, who accompanied the Manila congressman to the US Embassy the other day, earlier announced Jimenez would voluntarily place himself under US jurisdiction.
"If for instance his enemies harm him, I would be answerable for it. I have assured US officials that I would take care of him while the extradition court is determining when he would leave," De Venecia said.
Jimenez’s lawyer, Mario Bautista, held a closed-door meeting with Judge Guillermo Purganan of the Manila Regional Trial Court’s Branch 42.
Acting Justice Secretary Merceditas Gutierrez was also at the meeting to discuss the timetable for Jimenez’s departure for the US.
Jimenez visited the US Embassy on Wednesday to signify his intention to leave voluntarily and avoid arrest by Philippine authorities after the Supreme Court ruled a day earlier that he was not entitled to post bail for the duration of the extradition hearings.
His declaration caused the lower court to temporarily suspend issuing an order to arrest him.
US Embassy officials said it would be up to the Philippine government to set the timetable for Jimenez’s departure for the United States.
They said Jimenez will be escorted by US marshals once he is formally turned over for extradition.
US Embassy First Secretary and Press Attaché Karen Kelley, however, said she is not at liberty to fully disclose the details or scenario on how Jimenez will be treated once escorted by federal marshals.
Public Affairs counsellor Ronald Post also said there is no guarantee that the Manila legislator will not be handcuffed or be granted bail since there are legal procedures to be followed
"We will afford Mr. Jimenez due dignity and we’re going to use the precautions that are necessary. There is no guarantee one way or the other for that (the request for no handcuffs)," Post said.
"We will carry out the (US) law and provide due dignity to Mr. Jimenez, but it’s not a matter of leniency or no leniency," he added.
Post emphasized that there are certain procedures that should be followed in extradition cases.
"As part of that (extradition procedure), it has to be conducted under Philippine courts and we’re looking forward to a successful resolution of the case," Post said.
Kelley added the US authorities have assured Jimenez that he will be treated with courtesy with full legal rights once the lawmaker is flown back.
Embassy officials stressed the US will "certainly" take Jimenez back and wants him "very soon" since there has been an outstanding request for his extradition since 1998. They said authorities are looking forward to the early resolution of Jimenez’s case.
Even as the Manila lawmaker appeared Wednesday before the US Embassy, officials said they cannot take Jimenez in since he is still under the jurisdiction of the Philippine courts which will decide on whether to arrest him and allow him to voluntarily fly back to the US.
"Under the conditions of the extradition treaty, the Philippines maintains jurisdiction until Mr. Jimenez gets on the plane to the US. So he will have to go through Philippine authorities and on the plane, the US authorities assume jurisdiction and will escort him back," Post said.
Kelly also said the lawyers of Jimenez have been tasked to discuss the conditions and other arrangements of his return in the US.
Jimenez’s lawyers, however, were quoted over dzBB radio as saying he wanted to leave after New Year’s Day, but the government wanted him to depart immediately.
Wycoco suggested Jimenez’s announcement yesterday could be a legal strategy to avoid arrest by Filipino authorities, because "if there is a warrant of arrest, he would be detained and then the extradition process will go on while he is in detention."
Wycoco said Jimenez’s voluntary departure "must be immediate so as not to defeat the purpose of the lifting of the bail."
A dangerous precedent
Opposition Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. warned that moves to place Jimenez under arrest while Congress is in session would pose a new threat to the country’s democratic processes.
"This is alarming because if it can be done to Mark Jimenez, it could be done to any would-be dissenter against the powers-that-be who is a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate. This could be a dangerous precedent," Pimentel said.
Senate President Franklin Drilon, for his part, dismissed Pimentel’s claims and insisted Jimenez should be arrested in compliance with the existing extradition treaty with the United States.
"I don’t think so," Drilon said when asked if Jimenez’s congressional immunity would be violated if arrested.
Drilon said he had ordered the arrest of then senator Juan Ponce Enrile on rebellion charges even while Congress was in session at the time when he was serving as justice secretary during the term of former President Corazon Aquino.
Pimentel said the Constitution was explicit in asserting that no lawmaker may be arrested while Congress is in session.
A member of Congress may only be arrested if the offense committed carries a penalty of more than six years imprisonment.
While the Supreme Court stressed that their ruling on the arrest and extradition of Jimenez is not tantamount of removing him from his elective position, Pimentel said there are moves at the House of Representatives calling for a special election in the sixth congressional district of Manila to replace the extraditable lawmaker.
He said the Supreme Court decision on Jimenez virtually "undermined parliamentary immunity" of any lawmaker.
Some of Jimenez’s colleagues at the House also insisted a constitutional crisis could emerge on the arrest and extradition of the Manila lawmaker.
In a statement, Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen said the Supreme Court "trampled on inter-governmental branch courtesy by encroaching into the powers and prerogatives of both the Senate and the House."
The opposition lawmaker pointed out that the Supreme Court had used an inferior statute, the Extradition Law or Presidential Decree 1069, as a basis for the arrest of Jimenez instead of the Constitution which prohibits the arrest of members of Congress while it is in session.
Dilangalen said Jimenez has been proven guilty in the adverse publicity generated by the Supreme Court ruling even as the US courts have yet to prove his case.
The Muslim lawmaker said he will personally lead his colleagues at the House to question the no-bail provision of the Extradition Law.
He said the Supreme Court ruling on the Jimenez case "does not preclude our basic right to seek the court’s declaration as the unconstitutionality of the Extradition Law, unless we initiate revision of the law in Congress."
Dilangalen stressed that a constitutional crisis will emerge once the Manila court issues the arrest order against Jimenez.
"That is why members of the House are cautious against such move by the courts that could trigger a head-on collision between the judicial and legislative branches of government," Dilangalen said.
He said Jimenez’s actual arrest could be interpreted as a forcible removal from his office.
The US government in April 1999 handed down a 47-count indictment against Jimenez for fraud, tax evasion and illegal campaign contributions to the Democratic Party, and asked Manila to hand him over.
Jimenez faces five years in jail for each of the fraud and tax cases, US officials said.
Jimenez built up a fortune running a computer components distribution business in the United States and Latin America after emigrating from the Philippines.
He returned to the country of his birth in May 1998 and befriended Joseph Estrada who was later elected president.
Estrada made him an economic adviser and described him as a "corporate genius" for his advise on the sale of government share holdings in a number of Filipino corporations.
Last year, Jimenez ran for and won a seat in the House of Representatives while Estrada was arrested and put on trial for corruption. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Aurea Calica, Sammy Santos, Jess Diaz, AFP
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