Palace on UN ruling: GMA enjoyed due process

MANILA, Philippines - The Palace on Thursday insisted that former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was granted due process, following the United Nations (UN) ruling that her detention violates international law.

"Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been accorded such due process and has availed herself of various legal remedies under Philippine laws," Presidential Communication Office Secretary Herminio "Sonny" Coloma Jr. said in a statement.

READ: Lawyer: UN rules GMA detention violates international law

Coloma added that there is an ongoing judicial process in the Philippine courts and that they have sole jurisdiction to decide on the matter.

"The Philippine government or any international body for that matter, cannot interfere nor influence the course of an independent judicial proceeding," Coloma said.

The Cabinet official stressed that the Philippines abides by its international obligations as a signatory to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

London-based lawyer Amal Clooney filed the Arroyo case before the UN.

According to the email sent by Clooney to Arroyo's Philippine lawyer, Larry Gadon, the former president was denied bail on grounds that are not compatible with international law.

"...she was denied bail exclusively on the basis of the alleged strength of evidence against her; measures alternative to pre-trial detention were not considered and there were undue delays in considering her bail position in the proceedings against her as a whole," the UN panel said in its opinion released on October 2.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima also contested the UN ruling, citing that Arroyo's detention has basis under Philippine laws, according to a report from the STAR.

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