SC denies De la Paz petition for TRO

The Supreme Court has denied the petition of retired Philippine National Police comptroller Eliseo de la Paz for the issuance of a temporary restraining order against a Senate order placing him under arrest.

De la Paz and his wife Maria Fe had filed a 19-page petition for certiorari and prohibition with prayer for the issuance of a TRO.

In the same petition, De la Paz also questioned the jurisdiction of the Senate foreign relations committee to investigate him for carrying P6.9-million worth of undeclared euros in an official trip to Moscow.

“The Court resolved to deny the urgent reiteratory motion for the issuance of a temporary restraining order dated Nov. 10, 2008 filed by counsel for petitioners,” the Court said in its resolution dated Nov. 24, 2008.

The Supreme Court had earlier deferred its action on De la Paz’s petition and instead ordered the Senate to file its comment on the petition.

De la Paz said the Senate panel should only investigate state-to-state relations and matters involving overseas Filipino workers and not small incidents of violations of customs laws in other countries.

He added that his non-declaration of the euros is not considered a state issue.

De la Paz and his wife Maria Fe were caught carrying undeclared cash worth 105,000 euros, or P6.9 million at the departure area of a Moscow airport after they attended the Interpol conference together with seven other police officials.

Russian customs officials cleared De la Paz and his wife after the PNP sent documents that proved that the undeclared money belonged to the police force and did not originate from an illegal activity. The couple was held in a Moscow hotel for 10 days before they were allowed to come home.

In a phone interview, De la Paz’s lawyer Noel Malaya said they would no longer contest the resolution of the Court denying their petition for the issuance of a TRO as the issue is now moot.