Verisimilitude

cpecson@theguidon.com­

How does one respect the value of human rights when what is at stake in the blurring of lines is a public interest?

It is probably right to simply say, “a human right is a human right—everyone is entitled to it.” But for our former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, this does not seem to be the case. The pressing issue of balancing national interest and individual right seems to be the greatest challenge for the government when it comes to dealing with Arroyo’s attempts to leave the country for medical attention.

It is especially challenging for President Noynoy Aquino and his Department of Justice Secretary, Leila de Lima. Their decision to disallow her from traveling outside the country is keeping the whole Arroyo family armed to the brim with lawyers, in a continuous effort to prove the injustice in preventing the Arroyo camp’s departure.

The Arroyos’ legal spokesperson Raul Lambino said in an interview published last November 12 in the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Aquino’s outstanding refusal to permit Arroyo to travel stems from his need to cover his own administrative failures. Biases aside, I don’t believe this is a reason enough for Aquino to declare prohibition on Arroyo’s leaving.

Nevertheless, I still think that there is more to this issue than simply pointing fingers at who is a better administrator and at who now has six plunder cases filed under their name. It is not a secret that Aquino and Arroyo have not been seeing eye to eye on a lot of things. That even may be an understatement. Most Filipinos see the two influential figures as two people on the opposite ends of a pole.

However, considering that a couple of former presidents (and a number of high-profile citizens who are also facing major charges), namely Ferdinand Marcos, Joseph Estrada, and then-declared state prisoner Ninoy Aquino, had the privilege of going out of the country to have themselves treated, how come Arroyo is being deprived of the same privilege? Is it always just because of her six plunder cases, or is it something more personal than that?

I would like to think that I am not being biased here. I am not here to accuse anyone of anything, but I do think that in the attempt to study all the possible angles and arguments of this issue, the following conclusion will ultimately prove to be necessary.

At the end of the day, we will have to concede to the reality of the situation: that a citizen is in need of good medical assistance, which she believes she can only avail of abroad. And given that it is every person’s right to seek help for the best of his or her health, this should not be denied to Arroyo. No matter how risky allowing Arroyo out of the country is—more so, to a country with which our government has no extradition treaty—at the most basic and practical level, the greatest precaution that can be undertaken is to tighten Arroyo’s security abroad and to send her off to a country where the Philippines will not lose hold of her.

That way, both national interest and individual right are not compromised.