MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Leila de Lima defended her order to immigration officials not to allow former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband Mike to leave the country, saying the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court cannot be implemented yet.

“My order to the BI (Bureau of Immigration) is to respect the WLO (watch list order) because our position is that since we are filing a motion for reconsideration, when we receive a copy of the TRO, then implementation of the TRO should be deemed suspended,” she told ANC’s “The World Tonight” on Tuesday.

De Lima questioned the move of the Arroyo camp to try to immediately leave for abroad, saying the situation faced by Mrs. Arroyo was not “life and death.”

“What is the rush? Why were there bookings already earlier today? We are not confronted here with a life and death situation,” she said.

Arroyo and her husband arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 at around 8:10 p.m. for a scheduled flight to Singapore.

However, their passports were held by officials of the BI, who were following the justice secretary’s directive.

De Lima said the TRO shouldn’t have been issued before the case was heard by the high court.

“This case is heard by the Supreme Court. Because I understand they precisely set oral arguments for Tuesday. That’s just 1 week from now. Why issue a TRO now? In issuing a TRO, they have effectively rendered moot and academic the main petition itself because as is, they already declared as unconstitutional the WLO when that is the very issue in these petitions they filed,” she said.

“We have the right to exhaust remedies against the TRO. The available remedy is the filing of a motion for reconsideration,” she added.

Arroyo and her husband left NAIA at around 9:35 p.m.

Mrs. Arroyo left the airport onboard an ambulance and arrived at St. Luke's Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City at around 10 p.m.

Mr. Arroyo criticized the Aquino administration for preventing them from leaving the country.

"We were not allowed to leave...This is persecution. Kawawa naman asawa ko, may sakit siya, ganun ang trato nila sa may sakit," he said.

Arroyo lawyer Ferdie Topacio, meanwhile, said they are considering filing contempt charges against those who stopped the Arroyos from departing, including De Lima.