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CONCURRING OPINION

QUISUMBING, J.:

As I concur in the result reached by the ponencia of Justice Melo, may I just add my modest observations.

The human rights of person, whether citizen or alien, and the rights of the accused guaranteed in our Constitution should take precedence over treaty rights claimed by a contracting state. Stated otherwise, the constitutionally mandated duties of our government to the individual deserve preferential consideration when they collide with its treaty obligations to the government of another state. This is so although we recognize treaties as a source of binding obligations under generally accepted principles of international law incorporated in our Constitution as part of the law of the land.

For this primordial reason, I vote to DENY the petition.

Moreover, considering that the Extradition Treaty between the USA and Philippines appears mute on the specific issue before us, the Court in the exercise of its judicial power to find and state what the law is has this rare opportunity of setting a precedent that enhances respect for human rights and strengthens due process of law.

As both majority and dissenting colleagues in the Court will recognize, American authorities follow two tracks in extradition proceedings: (1) the interstate practice where, pursuant to statute, the state Executive upon demand furnishes the would be extraditee or counsel copies of pertinent documents as well as the request for extradition; and (2) the international practice where the Executive department need not initially grant notice and hearing at all. Rules of reciprocity and comity, however, should not bar us from applying internationally now what appears the more reasonable and humane procedure, that is, the interstate practice among Americans themselves. For in this case the American people should be among the most interested parties.

Truly, what private respondent is asking our Executive department (notice, copies of documents, and the opportunity to protect himself at the earliest time against probable peril) does not, in my view, violate our Extradition Treaty with the USA. His request if granted augurs well for transparency in interstate or intergovernmental relations rather than secrecy which smacks of medieval diplomacy and the inquisition discredited long ago.

That private respondent is a Filipino citizen is not decisive of the issue here, although it is obviously pertinent. Even if he were a resident alien (other than American perhaps), he is, in my view, entitled to our full protection against the hazards of extradition (or deportation, similarly) from the very start. More so because, looking at the facts adduced at the hearing and on the record of this case, the charges against him involve or are co-mingled with, if not rooted in, certain offenses of a political nature or motivation such as the ones involving alleged financial contributions to a major American political party. If so, long established is the principle that extradition could not be utilized for political offenses or politically motivated charges.

There may, of course, be other charges against private respondent in the USA. But then they are, in my view, already tainted there with political color due to the highly charged partisan campaign atmosphere now prevailing. That private respondents cases will be exploited as political fodder there is not far-fetched, hence the need here for cautious but comprehensive deliberation on the matter at bar. For, above all, it is not only a Treaty provision we are construing; it is about constitutional and human rights we are most concerned.