Ousted Mexico, Pampanga mayor Teddy Tumang will be detained in Congress after he was cited in contempt for allegedly disclosing information from an executive session that runs counter to the rules of the House of Representatives.
The House Committee on Dangerous Drugs approved Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop's motion to cite Tumang in contempt for violating Section 7 of the House rules and procedure governing inquiries in aid of legislation for the supposed leak of its discussion on illegal drugs during its previous executive session on 9 October.
Executive sessions are confidential and not subject to public discussion.
Section 7 prohibits the disclosure of information taken up in executive session of the House or any of its committees.
"To be consistent and fair with the others who were also cited for contempt for similar violations of our rules, may I move that we [also] cite former Mayor Tumang for contempt," Acop moved.
The panel, chaired by Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers, on Wednesday carried on in its motu proprio into the seizure of 530 kilos of "shabu" worth P3.6 billion last 27 September in Mexico, Pampanga.
In late August, authorities also recovered 200 kilos of "shabu" worth P1.3 billion found abandoned in a car parked at a supermarket in Mabalacat City, Pampanga.
The series of massive shabu busts prompted Pampanga lawmaker Aurelio Gonzales to file House Resolution 1346, prodding the panel to probe the seizure of a total of ₱4.9 billion in narcotics, stressing that his province is not a haven for drug traffickers.
During the hearing, Barbers confronted Tumang for disclosing in a press conference the details of the executive session, naming Gonzales as the person he suspected of implicating him for his supposed involvement in the massive drug haul.
The former mayor, however, was making a "big sorry" for not knowing the rules of the legislative body.
Tumang will be confined within the premises of Congress for a maximum of 30 days.
Tumang was the chief executive of Mexico, Pampanga, for 16 years. In August, the Ombudsman dismissed him from the service in connection with multiple counts of graft and malversation raps.
Meanwhile, the panel ordered the Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation to locate the whereabouts of Willy Ong, the owner of Empire 999 Realty Corporation, the warehouse where the P3.6 billion shabu were seized, after his no-show during the probe despite being subpoenaed.
