Palace: SC ruling on ‘1017’ not a license to conspire vs gov’t

Malacañang warned critics and the political opposition against using the Supreme Court ruling on Presidential Proclamation 1017 to justify another attempt to destabilize the government.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye maintained that the government is duty-bound to protect democratic order and the rule of law despite the SC ruling that limits the powers of the government to make arrests.

The SC declared Wednesday as final its May 3 ruling, which upheld the powers of President Arroyo to issue PP 1017 declaring a state of national emergency.

The high court ruled the President had the authority to call on armed forces to suppress lawlessness in the exercise of emergency powers under Article XII, Section 17 of the 1987 Constitution.

However, the same ruling declared all warrantless arrests and raids conducted under General Order No. 5, which implemented the controversial proclamation, as illegal.

"The High Tribunal’s ruling must not be misconstrued as a license for criminal conspiracies, which will meet the full force of the law," Bunye said.

"This government will not hesitate to take the necessary steps to ensure public safety and national security under the standards set forth by the high court," he said.

Opposition leaders and militant groups filed a petition before the SC questioning the legality of PP 1017, which declared a week-long state of national emergency last February following a reported plot to overthrow the government.

Solicitor General Eduardo Nachura earlier filed a motion for partial reconsideration seeking to declare all provisions of PP 1017 constitutional.

The militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) labor organization also filed a motion for reconsideration, this time seeking a complete reversal of the May 3 ruling and asking the court to declare PP 1017 unconstitutional.

The high court thumbed down both appeals and upheld its May 3 ruling.

The SC said the government and the KMU were not able to raise any new issues that would prompt a reversal of its earlier decision.

Nachura said the SC decision would not have any effect on the cases filed against the government authorities in making warrantless arrests and conducting a raid on a daily newspaper said to be anti-government during the state of emergency.

Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio, on the other hand, said the SC ruling would not change the government’s way of dealing with national security threats.

Claudio, however, insisted there were no abuses committed during the state of emergency.

He said it was never a policy of the government to deal with national security threats using force or abuse of power.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), for its part, maintained it could still make arrests without warrants even though the SC ruled that arrests made during the PP 1017 implementation were illegal.

PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao pointed out that warrantless arrests are provided for under the Constitution.

He said police officers can still make arrests without warrants if a crime is occurring at the time, aside from the citizen’s arrest provided for under criminal statutes.