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MANILA – The Supreme Court has firmly denied an attorney’s attempt to force President Rodrigo Duterte to reveal his medical history.
FAIR IN: The Supreme Court firmly denies attorney Dino de Leon’s request to release Pres Duterte’s health records. In 3 paragraphs, SC says that no new arguments were raised, De León did not establish Duterte’s ministerial duty to disclose health records and his right to demand it. pic.twitter.com/0vsdHQ4V79
– Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) September 18, 2020
In a resolution dated September 8, the superior court dismissed the motion for reconsideration presented by attorney Dino De León, saying that the same arguments had been “judiciously considered.”
“The Resolution of May 8, 2020 dismissing the Extremely Urgent Petition for Mandamus is considered final. In this case, no more allegations or motions will be admitted ”, says the resolution.
De Leon had argued in his reconsideration petition that the higher court in fact deprived the Filipino people of due process when it dismissed his petition entirely. He asked SC to make oral arguments instead.
He also insisted that the president himself provide evidence of the “seriousness” of his health condition, citing in his subsequent presentations reports of a medical plane that allegedly landed in Davao city from Singapore and back and the president’s admission that Your Barrett’s esophagus can worsen to stage 1 cancer.
De Leon had relied on article 12, art. VII of the 1987 Constitution that obliges the President to inform the public about the state of their health in the event of a “serious” illness and about the right of people to be informed of the matters that affect them under article 7 of article III.
But the Supreme Court stuck to its earlier ruling that De Leon has not established a legal right to require the release of the president’s medical records.
“It failed to establish a legal right that was violated by the respondents. Specifically, it failed to demonstrate that: (1) the reparations it sought, that is, to compel the president to (a) disclose his health status, and (b) undergo further confirmatory medical and psychological / psychiatric examinations that will need to be disclosed publicly in order to ensure the accuracy of the medical records to be disclosed, constitute ministerial duties on the part of the respondents; and (2) there is a clear legal right on their part to demand the performance of these ministerial functions, ”said the high court.
In its previous ruling, the CS said that the deliberations of the Constitutional Commission show that the intention was to give the president the discretion of how to disclose the information in his health records, which is not a ministerial duty subject to mandamus.
Two Supreme Court justices disagreed with decision 13-2.
Associate Judge Alfredo Benjamín Caguioa said that dismissing the petition outright was “really disconcerting,” while Associate Judge Marvic Leonen expressed “discomfort” over the majority decision, warning that it could undermine the independence of the court.
Health status President Rodrigo Duterte, Rodrigo Duterte, Medical record Duterte, Supreme Court, Dino de León
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