‘Insulting’ De Lima demand

The Palace considers such undertaking as a brazen attempt to intrude into our country’s domestic legal processes.

Key government officials called out the United States Senate yesterday for adopting an amendment to the 2020 appropriation bill that will prohibit the entry of any official of the Philippine government who backed what it called the “politically motivated” incarceration of Senator Leila de Lima.

In a statement, President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo tagged the move as “insulting” and “offensive.”

He advised the US Senate to share the country’s policy of “minding our own business.”

“The Palace considers such undertaking as a brazen attempt to intrude into our country’s domestic legal processes given that the subject cases against the detained senator are presently being heard by our local courts,” Panelo said.

“It seeks to place pressure upon our independent institutions thereby effectively interfering with our nation’s sovereignty. It is an insult to the competence and capacity of our duly constituted authorities as such act makes it appear that this US Senate panel has the monopoly of what is right and just,” he added.

The US Senate Appropriations Committee passed an amendment blocking the entry of any Philippine government official who is involved in De Lima’s detention.

The said amendment was introduced by US Sen. Dick Durbin along with US Sen. Patrick Leahy. Dubin belongs to the five US lawmakers who are calling on the Philippine government to release De Lima.

Two Senate leaders have told the US legislators to stop meddling in the judicial actions held against detained Senator De Lima.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III rejected the legislation and tagged the US senators as “meddlers” who are not knowledgeable of the charges against De Lima.

Durbin on social media lauded the Senate Appropriations Committee for passing the amendment he filed with Senator Leahy in connection with what he dubbed as the “politically motivated” imprisonment of De Lima.

The Filipino senator has been in detention in Camp Crame for over two years now over her alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade during her stint as Justice secretary.

Panelo slammed the American lawmakers’ encroachment and called it an “outright disrespect” to the “people’s clamor for law and order.”

He reiterated that De Lima is “no prisoner of conscience” and that her being one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s staunchest critics has nothing to do with her detention.

“It treats our country as an inferior state unqualified to run its own affairs. All sensible Filipinos, regardless of their political or social association, should feel affronted and disrespected by this insulting and offensive act,” expressed the Palace official.

“Consistent with our position against sovereign interference, we will not respond to this group of American legislators by performing any repulsive action to reverse its decision. We shall respect their democratic processes, be these in the form of a congressional measure or an immigration policy. We shall leave it to the international community to ascertain which nation values the rule of law in accordance with the principle of state sovereignty,” Panelo said.

“The Philippines must enforce its laws equally to all its citizens regardless of political and social status. In this part of the world, more particularly under this administration, no one is above the law. We continue to mind our own business, as each nation has enough problems that its government should focus on. We hope that the Senate panel of these United States of America shares the same policy,” he concluded.

“They are meddlers. They don’t even know the case. She is innocent until proven guilty but those US senators are not judges here in the Philippines,” Sotto said in a text message.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson added the amendment passed by the US chamber is ambiguous pointing out that even the Philippine Senate won’t consider deliberating on the quality of such legislation.

“I don’t understand the sense in that piece of legislation. Does it mean all the witnesses who have testified against De Lima, Department of Justice prosecutors who found probable cause, the Regional Trial Court judges who issued the warrants, even the nine Supreme Court justices who voted with finality to affirm the detention of Sen. de Lima will be banned from entering the US?” Lacson asked.

“I don’t think our own legislature, no matter the perceived weaknesses and flaws we may suffer from, won’t even consider conducting a committee hearing in case a legislator will file a bill of similar nature,” he added.