SC JUNKS PETITION TO BARE DU30 HEALTH
The Supreme Court has junked a petition calling for the disclosure of President Duterte’s state of health following his prolonged absences from public view, incoherence during one live press conference on the COVID-19 pandemic last March and his own admission of illnesses.
In a six-page resolution dated May 8 but released only on Wednesday, the Supreme Court said taxpayer Dino de Leon, a lawyer who filed the petition by email on April 13, was not able to show “a clear legal right” to demand the President’s medical records.
‘Overly deferential’ “Regrettably, petitioner fell short of making a prima facie (at first view) case for mandamus (court order) by failing to establish a legal right that was violated by respondents (the Office of the President),” it said.
The court voted 13-2 without getting any comment from Malacañang.
Associate Justice Benjamin Caguioa, who disagreed with the majority, said the decision showed that the court had “an overly deferential attitude to a sitting President.”
The Supreme Court said De Leon’s allegation that Mr. Duterte was seriously ill was “unsubstantiated,” pointing out that “in the recent months, the President has been visibly holding regular Cabinet meetings” and making regular televised addresses on the pandemic.
Undermines independence De Leon had anchored his petition on Article VII, Section 12, of the Constitution which states: “In case of serious illness of the
President, the public shall be informed of the state of his health.”
Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the other dissenter, disagreed with the majority’s decision to dismiss outright the petition without even asking for a comment from Malacañang.
He said the court’s action “undermines our independence.”
“Even the public, particularly those affected by COVID-19, must waive their right to privacy and disclose their medical condition to deter the spread of the virus. This also holds true for the President, as his health is critical to the people’s confidence in his leadership,” Leonen said in a 30-page opinion.
No due process
In his 31-page dissenting opinion, Caguioa said the majority dismissed De Leon’s petition “without observance of due process,” adding that the case needed a more thorough review.
“This court’s preemption of the normal process given to a petition that unquestionably presents novel issues unnecessarily and unfortunately impacts on the public’s perception of the Court’s impartiality,” he said.
He said the case had “great constitutional and political importance” as it had invoked for the first time the provision on the disclosure of the state of the President’s heath.
“For the court to declare that the controversy has become moot solely because the President had already narrated to the public the ailments he suffers from does not only unwarrantedly preempt the full breadth and depth of the President’s duty to disclose a serious illness as may finally be defined by the court in interpreting Section 12, Article VII, it also clearly signals an overly deferential attitude to a sitting President,” Caguioa said.
Even the public, particularly those affected by COVID-19, must waive their right to privacy and disclose their medical condition to deter the spread of the virus. This also holds true for the President, as his health is critical to the people’s confidence in his leadership
Marvic Leonen Associate Justice