Tales of two arrests

I had a good laugh last Monday when my former colleagues at Malacañang Palace called up to tell me that our very sweet, prim and proper friend, fellow reporter Mia Gonzalez was sought by policemen to be arrested on libel charges. The funny part of this whole thing was that these bumbling Manila policemen obviously thought they could earn brownie points for doing their job. The five policemen, who were not even in uniform, later claimed they were merely going to serve the warrant of arrest to Mia last Monday at the Palace Press Office.

I immediately called up Mia to give some comfort to an embattled friend who earned her spurs getting this first ever libel case filed against her. The warrant was in connection with a libel suit filed against her by no less than the First Gentleman, Jose Miguel Arroyo, husband of the President of the Republic. The alleged libelous article, "Will She Now Change?" that got Mia into trouble appeared on the June 7, 2004 issue of the weekly Newsbreak magazine. In the article that offended Attorney Arroyo, Mia used her alias Concepcion Paez since at that time she was moonlighting for Newsbreak magazine. She is now working at the Business Mirror newspaper.

It later turned out that the warrant of arrest was issued against her last June 5 this year under her pseudonym, and another one last Aug. 17 which stated her real name Romina Gonzalez, a.k.a. Concepcion Paez. But it was only last Nov. 13 that she found out that she was already subject for arrest for not being able to post the bail. Even her lawyer did not know about it since they were not notified about the court’s issuance of this warrant of arrest.

We can only commiserate with this experience of Mia. Our very own STAR reporter, Non Alquitran recently also had the same brush with this slow grind of justice system in our country. The warrant of arrest against Non on a libel case against him was issued on August 4 but it was delivered in our office at The STAR only last Oct. 12. I even teased Non that he was a "wanted man" all this time because he was subject for arrest without him knowing it. He is a free man though now after he paid the P10,000 bail bond.

But the case of Mia was something else. Every inch of the grounds of the Palace is considered the sanctuary of our country’s seat of government that is mandated, among other things, to protect and defend the people from abuses and injustice. The Palace Press Office, where the policemen went to look for Mia, is now located at the New Executive Building (NEB), or derisively called "Borloloy" building inside the Palace grounds.

For their thoughtless act, these policemen did a disservice to President Arroyo and her husband, both of whom have to bear again the brunt of the stupidity by these "sipsip" people around them. We’re not saying people inside the Palace should be immune from arrest. But why did these policemen have to serve the warrant of arrest against Mia right inside the Palace Press Office? Why not serve it at the business address of the Newsbreak office?

This incident at the Palace came at a time the Arroyo administration has been under severe criticisms for alleged wanton violation of press freedom and of human rights. On top of these criticisms, the Arroyo administration has been under fire not only here but also by international groups on the high incidence of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines.

Mia and I became literally close with each other because our working cubicles were face-to-face at the corner of the Kalayaan Building where the Palace Press Office used to be located. So I can attest, as my personal knowledge of Mia, that she has conducted herself through these years as a professional journalist since she has been covering the Palace from 1993 to date.

I teased Mia that I was going to write about this incident and that I consequently have to reveal her age. And in typical intelligent repartee, Mia shot back: "Old enough to know better!" She hastened to add though she is "still in the child-bearing age" and we had our usual hearty laughter together over the phone. Until yesterday though when I called her again, Mia laughingly replied she is "still in a state of shock" about her being on the brink of being arrested and sent to jail.

And talking about jails, our law enforcement authorities have finally caught last Wednesday ex-Sen. Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan after several false tips in the past attempts to capture him. The arrest of Honasan was by virtue of a court-issued warrant last February this year in connection with the rebellion case filed by government lawyers after he was tagged as the leader of the "Magdalo" officers who staged the Oakwood mutiny against the Arroyo administration in July 2003.

The combined military and police intelligence operatives who have been going after Honasan succeeded in netting him. This was after a brief chase that Honasan gave them in a private subdivision in Greenmeadows in Quezon City where he was cornered by the heavily armed arresting team. Fortunately for the arresting team, Honasan, now 58 years old, is no longer that light and sprightly that he used to be when he was still active in the military service leading the coup against former President Corazon Aquino.

For now, everybody was satisfied with the way this arrest and capture of Honasan was handled by the team led by Senior Superintendent Asher Dolina, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)/National Capital Region and elements of the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP). Former Sen. Vicente Sotto III quoted Honasan telling him how grateful he was to the professional manner by which his capture was effected. I believe Sotto because he was among the first persons to have talked with Honasan a few hours after the latter was taken to Camp Crame.

This just goes to show our police and military authorities could very well perform their duties and job in accordance with the rule of law. On the other hand though, one can legitimately complain that these two cases of how to effect arrest of somebody who has a warrant of arrest could be seen as a compartmentalized justice system in our country again. The impression was Honasan got this kind of treatment because he is a former Senator and former comrade in the military by his captors. It worries us to think that common people like Mia and I should not expect the same courtesy from the arresting authorities. This should not be the case in order for a democracy like ours to survive.

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