Like on TV, the Arroyo camp displayed an example of a distorted Filipino sense of value—“Kung makalusot, ehhh!” We are talking of that November 15 drama at the Naia 1 when former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband tried to board a plane bound for Singapore. They were stopped in their tracks by Immigration authorities.
There are always two sides to a question. Arroyo lawyers insist on a person’s right to travel. But I agree with Raul Pangalangan when he said: “Sure, the Constitution guarantees a person’s right to travel, but all rights have their limits, as when they collide with the rights of others, etc. … the freedom to travel is not absolute. It is limited by the right of the government and the people to seek justice. Of all the rights, I think the right to justice is the most important. Why should a person’s right to travel be more important than a whole nation’s right to justice?” (Inquirer, 11/18/11)
In his own column in that same issue, Neal Cruz had the same views as Pangalangan’s: “GMA has the right to seek medical treatment anywhere, but this should be balanced by the state’s right and duty to ensure that the justice system works credibly and effectively.”
As of this writing, Arroyo is back at St. Luke’s Medical Center. Her health bulletin says that she is all right, but she is stressed. Not surprising, after that ordeal in the airport. Question: “Why did her camp allow her to go to the airport, even after the TV announcement of the Department of Justice that she would be stopped? Why let her be stressed? Or were they hoping “baka makalusot”?
—DETTE PASCUAL, dettepascual@yahoo.com