Patintero

“TWO groups play the game. Each side has five members: four guards and a captain. The game is played on the court. The objective of the game is for one group to walk or run through the court from one to the other and return without being caught by the defending group who keep guard the line of the court. Each individual player is taken out of the game when caught attempting to cross the lines of the court. The game goes on until the last player is eliminated. If any one player succeeds in coming back without being caught, all players are redeemed to play again.” – Patintero (Games Played By Native Children in the Philippines, UUPCC.org)
A lot of Pinoys are probably unaware of the more technical rules of this street game for children.
But apparently, it’s the “technicalities” which sparked the battle of wits between the Arroyos and Department of Justice Secretary Leila De Lima.
A virtual “patintero” game ensued between former president and current Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA), who was “running through the court,” fighting for her constitutional right to seek medical treatment abroad for a debilitating condition, and Sec. Leila De Lima, who was “guarding the lines of the court” to keep the Arroyos in the country via her watchlist orders (WLO).
On November 15, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the watchlist orders (WLO) given to GMA and her husband Jose Miguel by the DOJ.
After the required bond of P2-million in cash was deposited at the SC docket, the Arroyos proceeded to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 to catch Dragonair Flight 932 bound for Hong Kong.
At the last minute, the Arroyos were prevented from boarding their flight, on the orders of Secretary de Lima.
It has been pandemonium since then, as the Arroyos fought tooth and nail with Sec. De Lima to exit the country.
The series of events from November 16 up to now suddenly speeded up to a dizzying pace.
After Tuesday’s standoff at the airport, GMA filed a 12-page urgent motion, asking the SC to issue a cease and desist order to the DOJ to remove her from the WLO so she may be able travel for medical treatment abroad.
On Thursday morning, the Commission of Elections (COMELEC) had an en banc session to vote on the filing of charges against GMA for electoral fraud, upon the recommendation of the joint DOJ-COMELEC panel. The results came out to 5-2, with Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes, Lagman and commissioners Elias Yusoph, Rene Sarmiento and Christian Robert Lim voting for the filing of charges, while commissioners Lucenito Tagle and Armando Velasco inhibited from voting.
The case was filed at noon of November 18 to the Pasay Regional Trial Court, while the Supreme Court and Malacañang were deliberating in an en banc session on Sec. De Lima’s defiance of the TRO released by the Supreme Court to the Arroyos and where the SC reaffirmed its decision to stop the DOJ from enforcing the travel ban on the former first couple.
Now, the catfight has reached its climax. A warrant of arrest was released by Judge Jesus Mupas around 4:30pm, and GMA was arrested at her hospital bed in St. Luke’s Medical Center around 6:30pm, on the same day.
The warrant was issued on grounds of finding probable cause to charge the former president and several others with electoral fraud — a non-bailable offense which carries with it the possibility of a life sentence.
GMA is scheduled to be booked on November 19, but is officially “under hospital arrest until her doctors deem her fit to be released.”
Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said that the former president “would be accorded due respect and would not be compelled to leave the hospital.”
With all that’s been said and done, it all boils down to politics and strategy – a game that needs to be played with great consideration to the rules.
And while this continues to unfold, a bloody, rhetorical battle still lies ahead.
What started out as a seemingly childish squabble has now become a full-fledged, historical moment — one that would test not only our legal acumen or our own individual predilections, but our core values and identity as a nation.
Now, it’s GMA’s turn to “guard the lines of her court.”
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend Nov 19-22, 2011 Sec A pg. 12)